Tag Archives: orange

Photographs: Nature

Desert Mallow Flowers

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Desert Mallow Flowers
Orange desert mallow in bloom, Death Valley National Park

Desert Mallow Flowers. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Orange desert mallow in bloom, Death Valley National Park.

Recently I posted another photograph of (literally) this very same branch of this very same plant. That’s a bit unusual when it comes to wildflowers, especially of the sort that often appear in large numbers in the same place. I’m probably more likely in these cases to either share just one or else to share photographs of different flowers. But here, were were in a pretty arid location, a bit before the peak for this flower, and there was only one good and easily accessible plant.

Also a bit unusual in this case, I photographed the flower in direct sunlight, albeit a bit filtered by clouds. It is tricky to make close-up photographs of a color like this in full sun since the intensity of the color can easily become over-saturated, and because the dynamic range difference between bright and dark areas can be so great that it creates a sort of stark effect. I had begun photographing this group of flowers while the sun was obscured by a passing cloud, and my recollection is that I made this image just as the sun was beginning to emerge — producing more directional light but not yet fully bright.

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

Desert Mallow Blossoms

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Desert Mallow Blossoms
Orange desert mallow blossoms, Death Valley National Park

Desert Mallow Blossoms. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Orange desert mallow blossoms, Death Valley National Park.

These orange desert mallows are among my favorite desert flowers. It seems to me that they are often somewhat unobtrusive, but the will suddenly burst forth with a bush-full of bright orange color. The blooms are lovely, and they remind me a bit of small California golden poppies.

Although I sometimes don’t recall exactly where I photographed such things, my recollection in this case is that I photographed them in a quiet desert canyon starting at the top of a large alluvial fan, where we had gone to eat lunch the first day we arrived in Death Valley on our early April visit. After hours of driving (actually a couple of days of traveling!) it was good to stop and sit in a quiet place. As we ate we looked around the canyon a bit and started to pick out likely photographic subjects, though there was no hurry to get to work. Eventually we wandered over toward the edge of the canyon where some interesting-looking plants were growing, among them a mallow bush.

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

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Tumbleweed, California Wildflowers

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Tumbleweed, California Wildflowers
A tumbleweed rests in the middle of a field of California spring wildflowers.

Tumbleweed, California Wildflowers. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A tumbleweed rests in the middle of a field of California spring wildflowers.

Let’s say you live in California or close enough to get here quickly. Let’s say you like wildflowers. Let’s say you have a bit of flexibility in your schedule. Go now! In many areas of the state — mostly the oak/grassland country of Central and the coastal and inland mountain ranges and foothills, along with many desert areas — the wildflower season is reaching its quite spectacular peak.You don’t need to know the supposed Best Wildflower Spot In California… because this is more or less a statewide phenomenon, and because all you really need to do is point yourself toward one of these kinds of places, and because you’ll actually have as much fun discovering your own wildflower spot as you would have joining the hordes at the over-crowded places in the news. (Recently we saw absolutely stunning wildflowers — the kind that make you gasp out loud — as we drove past them on main highway routes through hills and desert.)

We ran into this particular display along one of those highways. I had driven past it a bit more than a week ago without seeing anything all that out of the ordinary… but a week later it was definitely at its peak. (If you were to go to this specific spot now you would likely find that it had passed its peak.) The tumbleweed plant was a gift from the photography gods and goddesses, as the scene really required something to interrupt the nearly continuous carpet of flowers.

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.

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

Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Construction Zone

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Construction Zone
A man walks past construction barriers in San Francisco

Construction Zone. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A man walks past construction barriers in San Francisco.

Like most big cities, San Francisco is in a perpetual state of construction, demolition, and reconstruction. It is fun to imagine a city that arrives in a perfect state and stays there for a while — but that’s not going to happen. Among many San Francisco projects, one of the biggest right now involves constructing an underground transit route under the center of the City, and years of torn up streets have ensued. Although it is possible to imagine the project concluding now, there’s still a lot of work going on.

One major purpose of the route is to extend transit in a more effective manner from the Caltrain station at Fourth and Townsend. I frequently travel to the City by way of the train, and this visit was no exception, so I found myself walking straight up Fourth and past a section where the rails are above ground before they descend into a tunnel. Here the ongoing construction is separated by barriers from the (few) remaining traffic lanes.

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.

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