Tag Archives: plant

Photographs: Nature

Succulent Leaves, Detail

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Succulent Leaves, Detail
Black and white close-up photograph of succulent leaves.

Succulent Leaves, Detail. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Black and white close-up photograph of succulent leaves.

There is a tension in photographs between viewing them as “captures” of reality and their ability to show subjects as something other than or in addition to their appearance. One of my favorite observations about photographs comes from Minor White: “One does not photograph something simply for ‘what it is’, but for ‘what else it is’.” To observers who want to “get” photography, I suggest keeping this idea front and center.

You may have seen a plant just like the one that was in front of my lens when I made this photograph. We know that the thing in this picture is very small plant, perhaps of a sort we are familiar with. But the idea here is not to show you “what the plant looks like,” much less “what the plant is.” It is — perhaps obviously! — to suggest that you look at the familiar plant for what else it might be.

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.

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Photographs: Macro, Photographs: Nature

Succulent

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Succulent
Detail of a succulent plant.

Succulent. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Detail of a succulent plant.

Recently I shared a group of tulip photographs and mentioned that we saw them during April visits to a Bay Area garden. But the tulips were not the only attraction. For example, I posted a photograph of dogwood blossoms a few days ago. Although they comprised a very small part of the overall displays, I also saw some very interesting succulent plants here and there.

At this garden, many of these plants are found in small pots in various locations — on a table, on top of a low wall, tucked into a spot beneath trees. In my view, some are not the most visually exciting plants, and those that present interesting patterns are difficult to photograph, often because it is hard to get an uninterrupted framing of the plant. I liked this plant, however, both for the remarkable patterns of the leaves and for the striking coloration.

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.

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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: Nature

Blue and Yellow Flower

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Blue and Yellow Flower
A blue and yellow flower, with morning dew, photographed against a dark background.

Blue and Yellow Flower. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A blue and yellow flower, with morning dew, photographed against a dark background.

While this may not be a sunflower, at least it is blue and yellow. This isn’t flower that I recognize — though I was told its name at one point, a name that I had not heard before. It was growing down close to the ground, in a shady area at the garden where we were recently photographing.

I can’t claim to be any particular sort of flower photographer, even though I am attracted to such photographs and do try my hand at them occasionally. (Someone else in our household specializes in photographing small things like flowers.) This flower and those around it were still covered with early morning moisture.

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.

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, Photographs: Southern California

Sand Dune Shadows

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Sand Dune Shadows
Creosote plants cast long shadows across sand dunes in early morning light.

Sand Dune Shadows. © Copyright 2022.G Dan Mitchell.

Creosote plants cast long shadows across sand dunes in early morning light.

On every visit to Death Valley National Park I like to combine return visits to places I have visited before with visits to new locations. In the former case I often continue to expand my knowledge of familiar subjects and try to see them in new ways. In the latter I bring what I already have learned about this landscape to these new locations and see how I can draw on that to understand these new places. I made this photograph in a place that I’ve long thought about visiting and finally got to on this trip.

I camped nearby overnight, which gave me the opportunity to photograph in evening and morning light. On that first evening it was exciting to head out on the walk to this new place, unsure of what I would find or how I would photograph it. Early the next morning, as I walked across nearly the same route, the place was already starting to feel like “mine” a little bit, both from the previous night’s visit and from recognizing features familiar to me from elsewhere in the park. These creosote bushes were in a flat area at the base of taller dunes, and as the sun rose over the tops of these dunes the plants cast long shadows.

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.

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. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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