A group of larkspur wildflowers in the hills of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Photos are temporarily being shared without additional commentary. Watch for commentary to resume in late summer.
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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.
The tiny branch and incipient flowers of a California plant.
Readers and viewers have probably figured out by now that I’m anything but an expert on plant identification. I often recognize a plant from experience, know where and how it grows… and have little or no idea what it is called. There are some exceptions, and I’m not entirely unable to name familiar plants. But I do — as some recently noticed — still sometimes get it entirely wrong. All of this is an introduction to saying that I have no idea at all what this very small plant actually is.
Yet, I was intrigued by it. With a macro lens I could get close enough to reveal some details that would otherwise be easy to miss, including the subtle magenta shading of the buds. I made the photograph very late in the day as I was returning from a hike in Bay Area hills.
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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.
This plant isn’t one that I recognize, even though I’ve hiked past its location for decades, apparently without noticing it at all. I also will admit that I’m less that 100% certain of its identification, though “soap plant” seems to fit in terms of appearance, location, and type of habitat. It has a very delicate little flower, and this one is covered with insects which I presume must be feeding on it.
The trail where I spotted the plant is one of my favorites when I just want to get out for a quick hike or when I’m working to build fitness for bigger walking trips. It is typically a peaceful place, starting in open grasslands, and along the way passing through groves of oak trees and California bay laurel.
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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.
Forest trees in afternoon sun with Yosemite Valley cliffs in the background.
Another recently-shared photograph included three trees, the base of El Capitan, and the lower reaches of the creek that produces Horsetail Fall. In that post I mentioned that the camera position was a fruitful one, and that I had made several photographs from nearly the same spot on this visit to Yosemite. You would need guess from the very different subject, but this photograph comes from the same spot. I’m sure that I did not move the camera more than a few yards between the two photographs, though I did swing it around by about 180 degrees.
This row of trees, conifers mixed with deciduous trees at this elevation, stood at the edge of a partially flooded meadow along the Merced River. Places like this allow longer view that what we typically see within the forest, and from here the view included some of the monumental cliffs of surrounding the valley. In this rendition I cropped tightly around the trees to bring the focus on them.
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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.
