Tag Archives: nature

Photographs: Nature

Fairy Lanterns, Spring

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Fairy Lanterns, Spring
A cluster of spring fairy lantern wildflowers.

Fairy Lanterns, Spring. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A cluster of spring fairy lantern wildflowers.

These are among my favorite spring wildflowers here in my part of the world — the San Francisco Bay Area. The photograph is from last spring, as this year my opportunities to go out and photograph wildflowers have been much more limited. I did photograph flowers like these at the very beginning of their cycle, when they were still mostly buds and before the social lock-down commenced. Even when the rules were relaxed to allow hikes, the location of these flowers is one in which social distancing could be difficult to maintain.

I photographed this little group of flowers at a local spot where I first “discovered” this kind of flower over a decade ago. Oddly perhaps, given that I’ve hiked in these hills for decades, I was unaware of the fairy lantern flowers and surprised to see them. These grow a long a narrow and somewhat steep trail that heads through a narrow ravined, a place that is often in shade but with a bit of sunlight each day.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Marbled Canyon Wall

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Marbled stone in a Death Valley canyon wall.

Marbled Canyon Wall. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Marbled stone in a Death Valley canyon wall.

This little section of canyon wall is one that I’ve marveled (marbled?) at for years, stopping there every time I visit this canyon and pondering how to photograph it. Although I find the patterns (and what they imply about the geology of this place) to be remarkable, it isn’t each to find a way to photograph them the way I want. On this visit the canyon was quite dark and the light filtering down from above was soft and blue-toned.

I am about as far from being a trained geologist as one can be. I have never taken a single course in the subject, though I have read a bit. Nonetheless, I always marvel at the record of time and geological forces that created a little spot like this. Some material was, I presume, laid down “here” over a long period of time. Additional time allowed for it to transform into rock. As geological forces on various scales did their work, cracks appeared that permitted the entrance of entirely different material to create what we see as veins — but which are perhaps better thought of as layers. Eventually the force of water (and perhaps a weakness in the structure of the rock?) exposed this rock to the light. And then I arrived to photograph it…

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Eroded Strata

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Eroded Strata
Colorful eroded desert strata, Death Valley.

Eroded Strata. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Colorful eroded desert strata, Death Valley.

Yes, I am still working the morning light on these beautiful eroded formations from Death Valley. (For anyone not already in the loop, I have posted quite a few photographs from this area recently.) The area is remarkable for the diversity of its formations — mostly water-eroded hills but also, here and there, a few rockier structures. The colors make it special, though. In most light they are quite subtle, but at the early and late edges of the day, when the color of the light is warmer, the colors are easier to see.

Timing was the trick for this photograph. I wanted the warm colors of the earliest possible light, but a hill behind my position blocked the light until the sun had risen just a bit. Perhaps you can still make out just a bit of the shadow remnant across positions of the bottom of the scene.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Dormant

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Dormant
Deep in a desert canyon, a dormant plant waits for moisture.

Dormant. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Deep in a desert canyon, a dormant plant waits for moisture.

This plant grows in a very unlikely place — in a small crack in the rock face of a canyon wall in a deep wash where there is usually no water at all. No doubt it produced this now-dormant lush growth during a brief wet period when, like so many desert plants, it took advantage of a short interval when moisture was relatively abundant. And now, somewhere under all of these dried up branches and leaves, the heart of the plant waits for the next rain.

By the way, I don’t mind at all if you want to look for analogies to the current societal conditions of social distancing, of putting life on hold, of managing to exist in a dark place, waiting for better conditions to return. Feel free!

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.