Tag Archives: spring

Spring Flowers and Seeds

Spring Flowers and Seeds
Spring Flowers and Seeds. Almaden Quicksilver Park, California. April 12, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Color photograph of spring flowers (larkspur, or delphinium) with seeds, and foliage. Almaden Quicksilver Park, California.

Photographed along a trail through a small canyon where I frequently hike and which I always return to each spring. I was intrigued by the combination of the purple flowers and the seeds on the curving stem.

keywords: color, photo, photography, flowers, seeds, foliage, grass, leaves, stems, spring, new, nature, plants, almaden, quicksilver, santa clara county, park, san jose, california, usa, green, purple, stock

Quicksilver Wildflowers

Quicksilver Wildflowers
Quicksilver Wildflowers. Almaden Quicksilver Park, California. April 12, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Deep purple spring wildflowers at Almaden Quicksilver Park, California – photographed on an early spring hike near the peak of the central California wildflower season.

The flowers are larkspur, or delphinium. They are interesting flowers and somewhat difficult to photograph. Their color is a very deep purple, so it is almost necessary to photograph them against a much lighter background. These were photographed along the New Almaden Trail, not far from the Mockingbird Hill entrance.

keywords: wild, flowers, wildflowers, deep, purple, five, petals, trail, hike, nature, spring, almaden, quicksilver, county park, santa clara, san jose, california, usa, stock

Purple Wildflowers

Purple Wildflowers
Purple Wildflowers. Grant Ranch County Park, California. April 20, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Spring purple wildflowers photographed in the grasslands of Grant Ranch County Park east of San Jose, California.

I’m told that these are Vicia villosa or winter vetch. All I know for certain is that the hillside was covered with these beautiful small flowers, and that I had to get down very low on the ground to photograph them. :-)

For those interested in photo equipment issues, this photo is evidence, I think, that you can get decent out of focus background bokeh from the Canon 24-105mm f/4 L.

keywords: purple, wildflowers, wild, flowers, grant ranch, santa clara, county, park, joseph, green, leaf, grass, stem, bloom, blossom, spring, nature, stock, california, usa, photo, photography, Vicia villosa, winter vetch

Lupine Flowers – Grant Ranch

Lupine Flowers
Lupine Flowers. Grant Ranch County Park, California. April 20, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Spring lupine wildflowers photographers at Grant Ranch County Park in the hills east of San Jose, California.

Photography was not my main goal on this spring afternoon hike – I simply brought my camera and one lens in a pack and left the multiple lenses and tripod at home. Fortunately the lens I was carrying was appropriate for the many wildflowers I found along my hike to the top of a ridge overlooking Santa Clara Valley.

keywords: lupine, flower, wild, wildflower, blossom, plant, nature, spring, stalk, grass, bokeh, joseph grant, ranch, santa clara, county, park, scenic, stock, purple, bloom