Tag Archives: plant

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Spring Cattails

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Spring Cattails
Spring cattails growing along a trail in the San Francisco Bay Area hills.

Spring Cattails. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Spring cattails growing along a trail in the San Francisco Bay Area hills.

Although I love to visit and photograph special, exotic, and distant places, there’s a lot to be said for the local spots I’ve come to know over decades of repeated visits. Because they are familiar it is easy to overlook how special they actually are — and how special my relationship with them is. This unassuming little photograph is from such a place.

There is a county park a half hour drive from my home, perhaps a dozen miles away. The park is large and mostly undeveloped, encompassing hardwood forest and grassland hills crisscrossed by old gravel roadways and narrow trails. Long ago I started going there at least in part for the mundane purposes of training for the real trips, my High Sierra backpacking adventures. But gradually the place grew on me as I hiked there in all seasons and all conditions and began to discover little off-the-grid places that few visit. I went there for an evening hike last week, and I passed by a surprising patch of cattails near the end of my walk as the light started to fade.

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: Nature

Rose Blossom

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Rose Blossom
A rose flower blooming.

Rose Blossom. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A rose flower blooming.

I am not the flower photographer in our household — that would be Patty’s forte. But seeing so many flower photographs (hers in the house and online), I can’t resist trying my hand at this occasionally. In late May we headed to a large Bay Area garden to spend the morning with this subject, and I came back with a few photographs.

I find it pretty challenging to photograph these flowers. Often they are out in the full sun (I carry a sun screen), they move in the wind, and the small scale presents some focus challenges including depth-of-field issues. But sometimes the color and form of the flower seems to carry things, and the pink-blending-toward-yellow of this flower caught my attention.

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: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Creosote Bush and Dunes

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Creosote Bush and Dunes
A lone creosote bush among sand dunes, Death Valley.

Creosote Bush and Dunes. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A lone creosote bush among sand dunes, Death Valley.

The sand dunes often surprise first-time visitor with much more evidence of life than they might expect. We tend to think of dunes as being…. just sand. They are largely sand, but things live and grow out there, too — from reptiles, birds, and mammals to all kinds of highly adapted plants. In fact, sometimes when I’m trying to photograph a landscape of “just sand” I have to work to keep the other stuff out of the frame!

The bushes are well adapted to the dunes. While the lower branches eventually die and turn brown, in spring the upper portion of the plant can be intensely green and covered with small yellow flowers. On a windless day you might be surprised by the hum of bees swarming the 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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Twitter | 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: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Spring Fairy Lantern Plant

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Spring Fairy Lantern Plant
A fairly lantern plant with buds forming.

Spring Fairy Lantern Plant. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A fairly lantern plant with buds forming.

The fairy lantern flowers are among my favorite in my part of California. For decades I did not know of them, but one year I hiked down a particular little canyon not far from where I live and discovered them, their ball-like shapes hanging beneath the pointed leaves of these plants. Every year I head back to that spot to photograph them again, and this year was no exceptions. However…

… it seems that I arrived too soon this year! Or perhaps, I was on time but the spring transition came a bit later following our very wet and colder-than-normal winter. In any case, it seemed like all of the wildflowers were blooming late and my fairy lanterns were only at the early 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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Twitter | 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.