Tag Archives: morning

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert

Gully, Morning Light, Zabriskie Point

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Gully, Morning Light, Zabriskie Point

Gully, Morning Light, Zabriskie Point. Death Valley National Park, California. April 3, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning sun lights the folded earth of a gully at Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California.

I know Zabriskie is an “iconic” photographic location, and it has “been done” many times, but somehow I find myself unable to complete a Death Valley trip without an early morning visit to shoot a Zabriskie sunrise. (When I think of photographing Manley Beacon I’m reminded to the joke about photographing Yosemite’s Half Dome – it goes something like this: “When you photograph Half Dome be sure to open up about one stop to compensate for all of the light that has been used up by previous photographers.”) But for me the real interesting subject at Zabriskie is found in the nearly infinite variety of shapes, textures, and shadows of the tortured terrain below and to the left of the Point. Long after the sunrise is over and almost all the other photographers have left, I’m still there photographing the continuously changing light as it picks off the top of this small ridge, creates a reflection that lights up that fold, and so forth. I’ve photographed the gully that is shown in this photograph as late as 9:30 in the morning.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: gully, valley, fold, texture, pattern, wash, runoff, zabriskie point, death valley, national park, california, usa, land, form, geology, scenic, travel, nature, desert, stock, shadow, morning, light, bend, twist, icon

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Spring Growth, Bigleaf Maples

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Spring Growth, Bigleaf Maples

Spring Growth, Bigleaf Maples. Muir Woods National Monument, California. March 21, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

New spring leaves sprout on Bigleaf Maple trees beneath the canopy of redwood trees at Muir Woods National Monument, California.

This trio of bigleaf maple trees along the creek beneath the redwood trees at Muir Woods was just starting to develop spring leaves when I visited near the end of March. They are gently illuminated by diffuse light from an overcast sky filtering down through the redwood tree canopy. I’d like to revisit these trees in a few weeks when their leaves achieve the impressively large size that this tree is known for.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: Acer macrophyllum, bigleaf, oregon, maple, leaf, big, sprout, bud, trunk, branch, twig, grove, forest, tree, redwood, muir woods, national, monument, park, golden gate, recreation, area, marin county, california, usa, nature, moss, scenic, travel, landscape, stock, dark, light, morning, filtered

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Redwood Grove and Ferns in Morning Light

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Redwood Grove and Ferns in Morning Light

Redwood Grove and Ferns in Morning Light. Muir Woods National Monument, California. March 8, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light streams through a redwood grove to illuminate ferns on the sloping forest floor below at Muir Woods National Monument, California.

Yes, another photo of a redwood grove at Muir Woods National Monument. As I think I wrote earlier, I’m working on creating a collection of photographs of this location and obviously the trees themselves need to have a large place in all of this work. This is a bit different – really, trust me! – than some of the other recent redwood grove shots in that it was made during sunny conditions rather than the more gloomy (but no less interesting) rainiy and cloudy conditions I had photographed earlier.

And, yes, there will be more… :-)

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: forest, woods, trees, redwoods, grove, trunks, vertical, muir woods, national monument, park, california, usa, marin, county, floor, hill, slope, ferns, illuminate, nature, frond, branch, dense, light, morning, shadow, green, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Oregon Oxalis

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Oregon Oxalis

Oregon Oxalis. Muir Woods National Monument, California. February 28, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Bright leaves of Oregon oxalis carpet the forest floor under the redwood trees at Muir Woods National Monument, California.

I suppose this might more accurately be titled “More Oregon Oxalis” since I posted similar photograph in landscape orientation earlier. When I make a photograph like this one I often try to get versions in both portrait (vertical) and landscape (horizontal) orientation – partly because I think the subject looks interesting both way and partly for more practical reasons. By the way, I understand that the plant is also known as “redwood sorrell.”

Earlier today someone posted a comment on another of my photographs of this subject and pointed out that the plant also produces very pretty little pink flowers. I think they were just beginning to appear when I shot this – I saw a few of them, and a bud is barely visible near the center of this photo. I may return to Muir Woods soon, and the next time I’ll keep an eye out specifically for the flowers.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: muir, woods, national, monument, park, marin, forest, nature, california, usa, oxalis, oregon, oreganas, redwood, tree, sorrell, bright, leaf, leaves, carpet, floor, marin county, water, drop, rain, dew, morning, foliage, nature, scenic, travel, trail, hike, stock, green, clover