Tag Archives: national

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Redwood Grove, Morning Light – Muir Woods

April 27, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Morning light slants though the trunks of tall redwood trees near Bohemian Grove, Muir Woods National Monument, California.

I was surprised by somewhat sunny conditions on this mid-April visit to Muir Woods National Monument north of San Francisco, California. When I left my home in the South Bay very early in the morning it was quite cloudy, and the forecast was for even cloudier (and more persistently cloudy) conditions north of the Golden Gate Bridge. But as I drove through the City the clouds cleared to the north and by the time I was across the Golden Gate it was almost clear, with just a bit of nice high cloudiness to diffuse the light a bit.

I arrived at Muir Woods early enough that I got a parking spot in the closest lot. (Those who visit the place often and who are familiar with the crush of tourists later in the day understand what this means… ;-) As I usually do, I wanders slowly up the trail alongside Redwood Creek, taking in as much of the scene (visual, auditory, olfactory, etc.) as I looked for photographs. Eventually I made it to the bridge (Bridge #2) that crosses the creek just above the old Bohemian Grove. This is a spot where I often photograph if the crowds aren’t too bad – there is a lot to see right here! There are some deciduous trees whose leaves can catch the filtered light in interesting ways; the creek flows through, in places with ferns right down to the waterline; and there are lots of very tall redwood trees. I’ve been working on some photographs in landscape orientation that show groups for the trees, focusing primarily on their massive and parallel trunks – in fact, one from the series on this visit consists of a stitch of something like five horizontal frames. This one is more conventional and is a single exposure.

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

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM at 200mm
ISO 200, f/16, .6 second

keywords: redwood, tree, grove, trunk, foreset, bohemian, muir, woods, national, monument, golden gate, recreation, area, trail, sequoia, sempervirens, tall, big, flora, foliage, nature, scenic, travel, san francisco, marin, county, california, usa, north america, morning, light, slant, stock

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Oregon Oxalis and Trillium, Muir Woods

April 26, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Lush late-winter Oregon Oxalis and Trillium leaves carpet the forest floor in the redwood groves of Muir Woods National Monument, California.

It had been months since I last visited Muir Woods National Monument, so it was good to get back there and shoot again on this mid-April weekend. Although it was late winter, here in Northern California more often than not that means that spring is well on its way. Here in the redwood forest the trillium plants (like the one at the upper left in this photograph) are up and they have already bloomed. The Oregon Oxalis (or Redwood Sorrell) is growing like crazy and among the beds of lush leaves there are now small flowers as well.

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

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM at 200mm
ISO 100, f/14, 1.6 second

keywords: oregon, oxalis, redwood, sorel, oregana, leaf, clover, shamrock, forest, redwood, coast, sequioa, sempervirens, floor, carpet, green, lush, late, winter, trillium, muir, woods, national, monument, golden gate, national, recreation, area, park, marin, county, california, usa, north america, travel, scenic, nature, flower, close up, macro, stock, san francisco, bay, area

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Zabriskie Point Detail, Gullies and Folds

April 25, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Zabrisksie Point Detail, Gullies and Folds — Zabriskie Point Detail, Gullies and Folds

Black and white photograph of patterns of gully and hills in bright daytime light at Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California.

Here I decided to try a black and white high key approach to this generally very bright scene shot not in the typical early morning time frame, but about two hours or so after the middle of the day. I like the way that darker, shadowed wedge of hill on the right sits in the middle of the curving line of the gully as outlined by the lighter face in the full sun. As with several other photographs I’ve posted recently from this area, I used a rather long focal length and composed an image from a very small detail of the scene in the folded hills below Zabriskie Point.

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

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 330mm
ISO 100, f/16, 1/80 second

keywords: zabriskie, point, death valley, national, park, california, usa, north america, desert, geology, folds, gully, earth, hill, bright, day, daytime, light, shadow, pattern, texture, curve, angle, black and white, monochrome, travel, scenic, landscape, nature, high key, stock, southern

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Dusk Clouds, Badwater Basin Panorama

April 24, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 5 Comments

Colorful dusk clouds against darkening sky above the salt flats of Badwater Basin and the distant ridges of the Amargosa and Panamint mountain ranges.

This was one of the final photographs I made in fading light on this evening. (I made another series a few minutes later when the sky and clouds and salt flats were all various stages of blue – I may ultimately post that image here as well.) The very last light was catching the clouds above Badwater and the central portions of Death Valley, and the color was already fading quickly in the darker area to the east over the Amargosa Range.

As I have mentioned before, the very wide dynamic range between the shaded surface of the salt flats and the bright bit of sunlit cloud and sky at the far left necessitated the use of two exposures which were then combined in post. (Even after this light finally faded I was not yet finished for the day. An hour or so later I was doing night photography under the light of the rising full moon at Zabriskie Point.)

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

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM at 17mm
ISO 100, f/16, composite of two exposures in the 1/2 to 1/4 second range.

keywords: badwater, basin, salt, flat, polygon, pattern, white, texture, panorama, evening, sunset, twilight, dusk, dark, sky, color, orange, pink, blue, amargosa, panamint, mountain, range, ridge, horizon, death valley, national, park, california, usa, north america, landscape, travel, scenic, nature, stock

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