Tag Archives: plant

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Trillium Unfolding

March 21, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A new trillium plant emerges and begins to blossom beneath the redwood forest canopy.

With enough time to observe these plants – and a few return visits to fill in observational gaps – it is possible to see the full process of their unfolding. Though I still haven’t spotted the very earliest sprouts – probably because I didn’t look quite closely enough – I can spot the newly emerging plants that are about to open up and blossom. The leaves wrap around the incipient flower, and when they begin to open the appearance of the flower itself isn’t far behind.

On this visit to Muir Woods National Monument I found trillium plants in all stages from tiny plants with small leaves to those that had already blossomed and even lost the flowers. A few were at this wonderful stage when the cradling outside leaves are just opening to reveal the new flower. Soon the leaves will drop and flatten to produce the familiar three-part shape and the flower will stand (or droop!) above the leaves.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Two Trillium Blossoms

March 15, 2012 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Two trillium blossoms in the redwood forests of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California.

It is probably obvious by now that I’m a trillium fanatic. Early March is “trillium season” in the redwood forests around the San Francisco Bay Area, so I have been out photographing these flowers during the past couple of weeks. I was originally concerned that this might be a very poor year for them since we are in the midst of a serious drought in California, but some early March rain seems to have provided enough water to get them to sprout. In fact, this past weekend I saw lots of new plants just starting to emerge, so it seems to me that there may be some life left in the this year’s bloom. (And now we are looking hopefully at an upcoming week of much-needed rain.)

I photographed this pair along a trail that traverses a hillside above a valley filled with coast redwoods. I arrived in this spot just as morning light was beginning to filter down through the tall canopy of this forest and, in spots, hit the ground and the new plants. The trick is is to get some of the brighter color of this sunlight but to avoid the direct sun – the latter is far too harsh for photographing these flowers. So I worked in the shaded areas or, at times, in those spots that were right on the sun/shade boundary. I probably most often photograph single flowers, but when I can find a group I like to see how I can make a composition out of them. It is a bit trickier than it might seem, as there are a bunch of elements that must work together. First, the two flowers need to be fairly close together, and they both need to be at roughly the same point in their development – it isn’t so wonderful to get one beautiful flower and one half-dead, dried hulk. Then they must both be illuminated in roughly the same way – it won’t work so well if one is in brighter light than the other. The background is a tricky thing, too. If it is too bright or too busy (or too well focused) it can easily distract from the flowers themselves, so I usually look for something in shadow and without any very bright objects. While I may be able to find a camera position that accomplishes this, sometimes I need to move a small, bright leaf or twig. And once all of this is worked out, the flowers must be roughly in a plane parallel to the camera’s sensor so that both will be in focus – and this must happen while shooting at the large apertures necessary to throw the background out of focus. And last, but not least, exposure can be slightly tricky – it is very easy to over-expose the bright but delicate form of the flower’s petals, and end up losing detail.

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Trillium Flowers, Redwood Forest

March 8, 2012 G Dan Mitchell 4 Comments

Trillium flowers bloom beneath the redwood forest, Northern California.

This is another in what is likely to be a series of photographs of trillium blooms in the redwood forest just north of San Francisco. On this morning I arrived before the crowds that often come across the Golden Gate to visit this nearby forest, and I walked into the redwood groves while there was still a relatively small number of people. Despite this being a very dry winter, some recent rains had moistened things up a bit and there was a fair amount of water around – and it almost seemed like plants that had been waiting for water were now making up for lost time.

At first I didn’t see too many trillium plants or flowers, but as I walked I began to come across more of them. A hike on a side-trail that traversed a hillside brought me to many more flowers, and in a few places they were thick enough and close enough together that I could include groups of them in the frame. Here I put on a very wide angle lens, and shot from a very close distance at a large aperture so that I could include this row of flowers and throw the background of the forest floor out of focus.

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Trillium Plant and Flower

March 6, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A trillium plant blooms during late winter in the redwood forest at Muir Woods National Monument.

I somehow missed the trillium bloom in the Northern California redwood forests last year, so this year I was determined to make it back again at the right time. (That time is essentially the first week or so on March.) Since I had plans to be out and about doing night photography later in the day, I decided to start early and head to redwood forests north of San Francisco to see what I could find. I was a bit concerned since it has been quite a dry winter in California.

Fortunately, it seems that a few recent light rains have been enough to get the early spring growth going. Where a week or two ago almost everything was brown, this week there were signs of green grasses and some wildflowers starting to appear. While the redwood forest was not a downright soggy as it usually is at the beginning of March, it was wet enough to start a few small streams flowing. At first I did not see as many trillium and other seasonal plants as I hoped to see, but then I noticed a couple of things. First, some plants seem like they may be on a slightly delayed schedule this year. Second, as I continued to walk and look more carefully I was able to find quite a few of these trillium flowers.

A bit of advice if you try to photograph trillium plants and flowers… The blooms seem to come and go rather quickly, so don’t delay if you are looking to photograph them or you’ll find only the triple leaf plants and no flowers. The floor of the redwood forest is a “busy” place, with lots of different plants and the textures of dead and fallen plant material. Photographing flowers against this background takes a bit of care or the flowers will be lost against the complex backdrop. Shooting rather early or late, when little direct sunlight makes it to down through the trees is a good idea – the light in the shadows is softer and less harsh and you can use large apertures to blur the background.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: plant

Trillium Unfolding

Two Trillium Blossoms

Trillium Plant and Flower

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