Tag Archives: spring

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, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Spring Flood, Upper Yosemite Fall

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Spring Flood, Upper Yosemite Fall
Upper Yosemite Fall near the peak of the 2023 spring snowmelt runoff.

Spring Flood, Upper Yosemite Fall. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Upper Yosemite Fall near the peak of the 2023 spring snowmelt runoff.

After many years photographing this Valley and seeing photographs others have made there, I often look for subjects other than the iconic waterfalls, domes and peaks. It isn’t that I’m not interested — it is just that I’m not sure the world needs (yet) another straight-on photograph of “that thing” in the same, familiar light. So, despite the fact that the flow over the waterfalls was near historic levels during my late-May visit, I didn’t make many waterfall photographs. But I did make this one.

It was mid-afternoon and the light was mostly “plain vanilla.” But clouds were forming east of the Valley and moving west, producing some interesting shadows. Upper Yosemite Fall was in full sunlight when I set up my camera, thinking about how I might silhouette those trees against the flood of the waterfall. But soon those cloud shadows began to darken the granite faces, and for a brief moment a narrow shaft of light lit the waterfall, set against the darker cliffs.

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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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Globe Lilies

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Globe Lilies
A cluster of spring globe lilies in the San Francisco Bay Area hills.

Globe Lilies. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A cluster of spring globe lilies in the San Francisco Bay Area hills.

Every spring I make a point of visiting these flowers in a little valley in the hills not far from where I live. I thought I might miss them this year, but the heavy winter rainfall delayed the bloom and made it more extensive than usual. The first time I visited I thought the flowers were good. When I went back a few weeks later I expected them to be gone — but instead there were even more of them, more than I remember ever seeing here before.

They can be a little tricky to photograph. Because the plant isn’t too tall and because the flowers hang down at the end of spindly branches, it can be tricky to get a good camera angle on them. They also tend to grow in sheltered places that are at least partially shaded, so the light can be low. On the other hand, when there are as many as I saw this year, if I just stick with it I’m bound to find a few photogenic 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, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Forest, Meadow, and Cliffs

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Forest, Meadow, and Cliffs
A green springtime meadow near the base of steep Yosemite Valley granite cliffs.

Forest, Meadow, and Cliffs. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A green springtime meadow near the base of steep Yosemite Valley granite cliffs.

While clear, sharp-edged light and atmosphere are great when I want to show detail and/or photograph something a long ways off, soft and low-contrast light with a bit of haze is often more evocative. That’s what you see in this photograph, made near the end of the day as the sun was low, its light filtered through afternoon haze and muting the colors just a bit.

This is not exactly an iconic spot in Yosemite Valley, but it is one that I often return to. Depending upon the season and the conditions there may be a variety of opportunities here. There’s a small meadow with a seasonal pond (flooded right now!) and it provides views of the surrounding cliffs. Forest surrounds the meadow and ascends the lower cliffs. And even though a Valley roadway isn’t far away, a short walk here brings quiet.

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.