Tag Archives: santa clara

Photographs: Nature

Blue Dicks, Spring Foliage

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Blue Dicks, Spring Foliage
Blue Dicks flowers against a backdrop of spring greenery.

Blue Dicks, Spring Foliage. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Blue Dicks flowers against a backdrop of spring greenery.

Blue dicks is a beautiful flower with a perhaps-unfortunate name. One reason for the “unfortunate” label is probably obvious. (I’ve been warned to exercise some care when doing online searches for this flower. Hint: include “+flower” in your search terms.) The other reason is possibly less obvious and maybe even arguable: the flower really isn’t always blue. To my eye, it sometimes leans more toward purple or even pink. It is a very common flower but also a rather nice one.

I photographed this along a trail that I’ve hiked for years, and one that isn’t very far from where I live. This time of year, if you live in California’s grassland and oak country or can get to it, there is a very good chance that you’ll be able to find it, too. The flowers typically are individuals, rising at the tips of long, slender stalks that often wave in the slightest breeze.

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: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

White Globe Lily, Spring Green

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Chinese Lantern, Spring Green
A solitary white globe lily blossom against a background of spring green

White Globe Lily, Spring Green. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A solitary white globe lily blossom against a background of spring green.

As much as I love traveling to more distant and even exotic locations to make photographs, I often photograph right in my (more or less) back yard. If you follow me, you know that I photograph urban and industrial subjects all around the San Francisco Bay Area, but I also photograph some very nearby natural areas. This photograph, and a few others that will follow before long, was made in a place I’ve been visiting for decades, and it is only a very short drive from my home.

I know the spot where I photographed this flower very well. In fact, every spring I go to this little canyon to renew my acquaintance with a group of spring wildflowers found there. At this point, I know exactly what flowers I’ll find around precisely which bend in the trail. One of my favorites here is the white globe lily flower, a lovely and subtly-colored bulbous wildflower that grows at the end of slender graceful shoots. I didn’t see any the first time I visited this season, but on this visit I found a few blossoms and even more bud that should open a week or so later

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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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

Wild Sweet Pea Flowers

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Wild Sweet Pea Flowers
Wild sweet pea flowers, Almaden Quicksilver County Park

Wild Sweet Pea Flowers. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Wild sweet pea flowers, Almaden Quicksilver County Park.

I made this photograph on a short hike along a familiar trail, one where I’ve gone to see wildflowers for several decades. It is not quite as exotic a location as some I travel to — in fact, it only took me about two hours to get there, do my hike, make my photographs, and return home for dinner! There’s a hint there, too — I did not photograph during the typical very early or very late hours. Instead I made this during the late afternoon. That works well in this spot since it is in a deep canyon, and the light is subdued even during main daylight hours.

I am far from an expert on wildflowers! In fact there are only a few that I can consistently name. Yet, even when I cannot recall the names — an issue I’ve always had — I recall the flowers themselves, the time of year and location where I’ll find them, and other features that characterize them.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Oaks, Trail, Spring

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Oaks, Trail, Spring
Old oak trees along a Northern California trail through spring grasslands

Oaks, Trail, Spring. Calero Hills, California. March 12, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Old oak trees along a Northern California trail through spring grasslands

When people think of the landscape of California, many think of impressive and famous subjects: the redwoods, the Pacific Ocean coast, the High Sierra, perhaps the deserts. But those of us who live here know that one of the most characteristics is that of the oak grasslands. The sprawl along the low hills found all over the state and manage to climb up into mountains in many places — on both sides of the Central Valley, along the coastal hills, and more.

This tree and I go back perhaps twenty years, to when I first “discovered” this park just south of the main population centers of the San Francisco Bay Area. The specific location isn’t really important to anyone else, since you can find similar landscapes in many other places. But this tree is special to me. It sits along a trail that I have hiked many times, a steep but short one that takes me to the top of a bare hill and then down into a valley from which more distant trails branch out. I’ve photographed this sprawling oak throughout the year — summer, fall, winter and spring, in rain and fog and heat. This time I photographed on a late-winter California day that, as they sometimes do, felt more like spring.

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.