Tag Archives: plant

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Redwood National & State Parks

Redwood and Rhododendron

June 9, 2018 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

A curving rhododendron with a few spring blooms in dense North Coast redwood forest

I mentioned earlier that this was probably my first “serious” trip to photograph the redwood forests in the Redwood National and State Parks are of far-northern California. When I travel to a new location like this I tend to do only enough research to point me in the right direction. For example, I checked maps and I figured out that there are four main parks, and I looked up a hike or two. But I did not, and I generally do not, do extensive research and planning. For me a big part of the adventure is the discovery part, where I poke around, use my instincts, make mistakes, and take interesting turns… and see what develops. There is a method to my madness — I think this helps me more quickly develop a person orientation to the place.

So on this morning I headed to the closest park, Jedediah Smith State Park. I found what looked like it might be a road through the park. It was. Sort of. It turned into gravel and then came to a locked gate just past the park entrance. So I backed up, retreated, and tried going around the park to the other side. Eventually I found a nice hike of a few miles to a big grove of old-growth trees, but first I came across this beautiful little spot where there were a few rhododendrons just beginning to bloom.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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

Creosote, Sea Of Dunes

April 9, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A sea of sand dunes extends to distant desert mountains behind a cluster of creosote bushes

This photograph comes from those moments just before sunrise on the dunes, when there is not yet any direct, intense light. Instead the light is soft and diffused, and blue tones are seen in the distance and in shadows. We had arrived in this area earlier, after perhaps a 20 minute walk that began in near-darkness. This is not necessarily time for slow and contemplative photography — conditions evolve quickly, and I often have to make some fairly quick decisions before the light changes or is gone. Moments after making this photograph, for example, that direct light did arrive from the right, and the scene was completely transformed.

Sand dunes are remarkable and surprising places. I think the first impression for most people is of the sand itself — its extent, its shapes, the variations and texture and color, and (of course!) how difficult it is to walk across it. It is hard to imagine a more perfect canvas for the play of light. The dunes are not intrinsically very colorful, but they do a remarkable job of picking up color and light from their surroundings. Beyond the sand itself, the things that appear in the dunes are also fascinating. A close look reveals evidence of the passage of unseen animals, in spring flower blossoms may collect in hollows, and somehow plants manage to survive and sometimes prosper in this forbidding environment. In Death Valley creosote bushes grow throughout many of the dunes. Some of them can appear almost lush at certain times of the year — with new leaves and many small, yellow flowers. Others, like those on this small hill, seem to be barely hanging on to life.

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

Photographs: France, Photographs: Urban/Street

It’s Time To Dance!

May 12, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Graffiti, street art, and a potted ivy plant, Le Marais

We wandered into Le Marais, a section of Paris that still retains the old, narrow, and sometimes twisting streets from before the improvements that brought wide boulevards and a logical (or so they tell me) street layout. It is also a sort of “artsy” area, with lots of little shops, the occasional museum, interesting people, and lots of street art. All in all, it felt like a street photographer’s paradise to me. (I made my favorite photograph of the entire five-week trip — and perhaps one of my favorites of all time — here in Le Marais, probably only feet from where I made this one.)

The street art, which includes but is certainly not limited to graffiti, is ubiquitous. Some seems light-hearted, some has a darker edge. Some is political, and the meaning of some of it was opaque to me. The combination of the French language — which I don’t speak and only some of which I can figure out — and English, some of which seems just a bit odd or “off,” gave a lot of it a kind of perplexing quality. For example, the words written around the edge of the black planter down near the sidewalk, which enthusiastically announce “It’s Time to Dance!” I saw these large female dancing figures elsewhere, another visual theme whose precise significance eluded me.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Leafless Plants, Sandstone

February 5, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A few nearly leafless plants grow in a sandstone canyon, Capitol Reef National Park

I made this photograph in a place that is not unknown to Capitol Reef National Park visitors, but which few visit. To get to this lovely little canyon requires a very long drive on a gravel road, and then at least a little bit of research or perhaps a conversation with the right park employee. I was with friends who knew about it, and I probably would not have found it without them.

There are beautiful red rock canyons all over southern Utah, and some are quite well-known — sometimes perhaps known a bit too well. Fortunately there are so many that by poking around in the right corners you can find plenty of lonely yet quite lovely little canyons like this one. We began with a hike across some flat country and then soon entered the mouth of the canyon, which almost immediately became somewhat narrow. It wasn’t a long hike as before long we reached a blockage that we could not really pass. But along the way the beautiful light reflected down from above, bouncing off the red canyon walls, and casting a warm glow down below. Here the scenery was almost entirely of the ubiquitous red rock, broken by a few small plants that were almost leafless by this time in autumn.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: plant

Redwood and Rhododendron

Creosote, Sea Of Dunes

It’s Time To Dance!

Leafless Plants, Sandstone

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.