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White Globe Lily Flowers

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White Globe Lily Flowers
A cluster of spring Chinese lantern flowers

White Globe Lily Flowers. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A cluster of spring Chinese lantern flowers.

Please excuse the rather large number of posts of these flower during the spring season. It is both a personal favorite flower and something that grows not far from where I live. In fact, the location is at a park that I’ve gone to for decades — really the closest hiking park to my home. I’ve hiked there in all seasons for years, sometimes going for photographic purposes and other times just going for a good trail workout.

Over the years I’ve gotten to know the character of specific locations in the park, including where and when to find particular wildflowers. These white globe lily flowers grow in abundance along one particular trail each spring, especially in an area where the route passes through some small, steep canyons. The flowers seem to arrive suddenly, flourish for a short period, and then go to seed. On the day I photographed this group a few had bloomed but most were still in the bud stage.

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, Photographs: Southern California

Creosote Bushes, Dunes

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Creosote Bushes, Dunes
Creosote plants and soft, blue-tinted pre-sunrise light on Death Valley sand dunes.

Creosote Bushes, Dunes. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Creosote plants and soft, blue-tinted pre-sunrise light on Death Valley sand dunes.

No, I’m still not done with the Death Valley photographs! This shouldn’t be a surprise — I was there twice so far this year. Both trips were made primarily for the purpose of photography, and I had a total of about eight days to do this work. I made this photograph on the second visit, during the first week of April when the seasonal change takes off, the weather begins to noticeably warm, and when the plants tend to come back to life.

We were out in the dunes reasonably early on this morning, and I made this photograph before the sun had yet risen, in that quiet and still time before dawn when the light is soft and still has a bluish cast. Shortly after we entered this area of the dunes I climbed to a ridge of sand overlooking a large area and set up. Most of the photographs I made here on this morning came from essentially this one spot — I probably didn’t move more than 25 feet from the initial spot as I looked to refine compositions. I loved the foreground line of creosote plants. Most of them seemed to be dead or dormant, though the plant at the left was turning green and sending out new 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.

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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

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.

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: Nature

White Globe Lily Flower And Buds

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Chinese Lantern Flower And Buds
One white globe lily flower and serveral buds about to bloom

White Globe Lily Flower And Buds. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

One white globe lily flower and several buds about to bloom.

Since a recent post regarding this same type of wildflower went into some detail about it, I’ll try to keep this post a bit shorter. (Note: I wrote “try,” not “promise.” ;-) This is a white globe lily flower, one of my favorites from a local spot that I’ve been visiting for decades, especially in spring, and to which I’ve returned again this spring.

The importance of these “local spots” cannot be over-emphasized. I’ve seen a lot of photographers get trapped by the “I only photograph amazing places” mantra. Some of them, whose naturally busy lives limit the frequency with which they can drop everything and head off to an exotic locale, become frustrated with their photography. I understand — it is important to “do photography” almost continuously in order to produce and maintain the instincts of seeing that are so important. But seeing can happen locally, too. In fact, practicing (a term I know from a life in music) as often as possible, even with subjects that might not be your first choice, is crucially important… and it can be done as close as your own back yard or in your neighborhood.

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.