Tag Archives: nature

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Purple and White Wildflowers

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Purple and White Wildflowers
Purple and White Wildflowers. Almaden Quicksilver Park, California. April 26, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Purple and white wildflowers photographed in a shady valley at Almaden Quicksilver Park, California.

I’m terrible at identifying most wildflowers, though a helpful friend tells me that these are Collinsia heterophylla, or Chinese houses. (Thanks, Gena!)

keywords: California, flower, Foothills, Forest, Grass, hiking, Leaf, nature, plant, Spring, purple, white, wild, wildflower, green, san jose, santa clara, county, almaden, quicksilver, park, usa, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

White Globe Lily Plant and Flowers

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Chinese Lantern Plant and Flowers
White Globe Lily Plant and Flowers. Almaden Quicksilver Park, California. April 26, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

White globe lily plant in bloom in a shady valley at Almaden Quicksilver Park, California.

Yet another photograph of the white globe lily flowers, though this one includes more of the plant, with its slender, pointed leaves backlit by sunlight filtering through the forest canopy.

keywords: California, flower, Foothills, Forest, Grass, hiking, Leaf, nature, plant, Spring, chinese, lantern, wildflower, almaden, quicksilver, santa clara county, san jose, park, spring, hiking, usa, stock, green

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Pink and White Wildflowers

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Pink and White Wildflowers
Pink and White Wildflowers. Almaden Quicksilver Park, California. April 26, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Pink and white spring wildflowers photographed at Almaden Quicksilver Park, California.

Once again, a photo shot handheld with the 24-105mm lens. I like to use this photo and some similar ones to respond to folks who are convinced that “the 24-105mm f/4 L IS has bad bokeh.” I’ll admit that it doesn’t always produce great blurred backgrounds, but if you are careful you can actually get some nice bokeh from it. And for handheld wildflower shots its focal length is just about perfect and the image stabilization turns out the be very useful.

I’ve been told that these flowers are “Stachys ajugoides – rigid wood mint,” though after looking around at some online photos of that plant I’m not 100% certain since the leaves don’t seem quite right. Anyone?

keywords: pink, white, flowers, wild, wildflowers, nature, delicate, stem, leaf, green, bokeh, almaden, quicksilver, mines, park, santa clara county, san jose, california, usa, plant, hiking, trail, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Two White Globe Lily Flowers

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Two Chinese Lantern Flowers
Two White Globe Lily Flowers. Almaden Quicksilver Park, California. April 26, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two white globe lily flowers growing in a narrow canyon at Almaden Quicksilver Park, California. I make a point of hiking through this canyon with my camera equipment every April, when many wildflowers are in bloom.

A couple notes on this photo and some other wildflower photos that will soon follow… I know the location of these flowers very well – they grow along a trail through a canyon at a nearby park where I hike many times each year. I shot these photographs without a tripod. In fact, I travelled very light when I did much of this flower photography this season – on this day I was carrying only my Canon 5D and a 24-105mm zoom. The lens choice might catch the attention of some readers, since this is not your typical macro lens – but I’ve found that it works quite well for this type of shooting, and that it is possible to get a pleasing background blur in many cases if I use a large aperture and pay attention to what is in the background.

keywords: chinese lantern, flower, wild, wildflower, spring, canyon, blossom, plant, leaf, nature, almaden, quicksilver, santa clara county, park, san jose, stock