Tag Archives: purple

Photographs: Nature

Viola Flower

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Viola Flower
Close-up photograph of a colorful viola flower.

Viola Flower. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Close-up photograph of a colorful viola flower.

This viola almost seems to me to have a flame-like quality, at least if you can see the purple on the petals as seeming to emerge from that bright yellow center. If you look closely you may spot a surprise — a couple of small bugs hanging out on the petals.

This is another — and almost the last — of the photographs we made on a late-spring evening at the San Francisco Peninsula garden that has been the subject of so many recent images. In some ways this might have been the perfect lazy photographer evening: show up, get some snacks and a drink, sit next to a meadow and watch the evening light come on, the walk a few steps to nearby gardens to make photographs.

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, Photographs: Northern California

Acanthus

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Acanthus
Acanthus plants in a San Francisco Peninsula garden.

Acanthus. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Acanthus plants in a San Francisco Peninsula garden.

This clump of acanthus stalks was growing in a lush, green area of this garden. We were there in the early evening, and the soft light fills that shadows and reveals details that might be hidden in harsher conditions. In many places the stalks were growing close to other plants, but here they grew along and provided some distance to separate them from the rest of the garden.

The stems are striking — almost vertical (though these do lean a bit) and thick, covered with thick, patterned leaves that include green, purple, and almost black colors. Up close you can also see that there are stickers on some of the leaves.

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

Columbine Flower

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Columbine Flower
A purple, yellow, and white columbine flower.

Columbine Flower. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A purple, yellow, and white columbine flower.

The first time I recall seeing, or at least recognizing, a Columbine flower was on a long-ago Sierra backpacking trip that took me way up high. Those versions of this flower are essentially white, and their graceful shape surprised me in the high, rugged terrain. The flower became one of my Sierra favorites, and I’ve always associated it with the high country.

Encountering these Columbines near sea level in the San Francisco Bay Area reminded me that there’s more to this kind of flower than that initial experience — though it also reminded me of high country visits. These versions of the flower were quite beautiful, combining the familiar white with purple and yellow. I photographed this on as a last bit of filtered sunlight back-lit the petals.

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

Globe Lily and Ithuriel’s Spear

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Globe Lily and Blue Dicks
Juxtaposed flowers of Ithuriel’s spear and globe lily plants.

Globe Lily and Ithuriel’s Spear. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Juxtaposed flowers of Ithuriel’s spear and globe lily plants.

There’s a small valley in a local park that I have hike though for decades. Every spring I make a point of going there early in the morning when the light is still soft and looking for the wildflowers that grow there — Larkspur, globe lilies, and Ithuriel’s spear for the most part. There are specific bends in the trail where I know to look each season for the emerging flowers. (In fact there is exactly one spot where I know I can find the deep purple Larkspur flowers.)

On this visit I got lucky and found two of these favorites growling so close together — intertwined, really — that they made a sort of accidental bouquet. To my eye, the subtle colors of the globe lily (white with faint suggestions of pink, greens and yellow) complement the more intense blue/purple of the blue dicks 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.

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.