Tag Archives: spring

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Gravel Road, Carrizo Plain

Image April 7, 2024 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

OK, I admit it. This is a bit of a “record shot,” considering how this place can look like the peak of the spring bloom in an exceptional year. However, it does give me a chance to write a bit about the location and how I came to be here on this day. I was doing the long drive from the SF Bay Area to Death Valley from the San Francisco Bay Area. Since I had decided to stop overnight in Ridgecrest before continuing to the valley, I had a bit of extra time on the first day’s drive. So I detoured through the Carrizo Plain. (Yes, I have driven that gravel single-track, though not on this visit.)

At its best, this place can be remarkably full of spring wildflowers. But my mid-March visit was too early for that, so I had to settle for a landscape just beginning to build toward that climax. In this photograph, the wildflower bloom is just getting started. In exchange, I had the place largely to myself, without the huge crowds that come later. While most who visit for the flowers think of this as a green and wildflower-colorful place, the truth is that most of the time it is quite dry and desertlike.

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.

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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

Desert Gold

Image April 3, 2024 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The wildflowers in California’s deserts and here in Death Valley National Park vary wildly from year to year depending on the amount of precipitation and its timing. There are always some flowers, but they are scarce when it is dry. Every so often the conditions shake out just right and the desert and mountains explode with color. It is hard to predict precisely when it will happen or to what degree. This year there was plenty of water, but the schedule was odd. When flowers bloomed way early (back in late 2023!) some thought that the spring color might be a bust — but that is not what seems to be happening.

I was surprised to find an extensive bloom of desert gold flowers stretching across upper Panamint Valley. I saw it when I arrived at the park, and days later it had grown stronger as I left. From what I saw — surprising blooms here and there and a lot of new green plants coming up — I won’t be surprised if this year’s bloom ultimately surpasses expectations.

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Nature

Tulip After Rain

Image March 27, 2024 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Patty and I had a plan to visit a Bay Area garden where she often photographs spring flowers. According to the calendar, it was time for the tulips and other flowers to be at peak bloom. But as the day approached, it was clear that there was a chance of rain which, to say the least, can make this sort of photography challenging. We headed there early in the morning anyway, and it rained on us during the drive. The clouds were still thick when we arrived. Things were looking a bit uncertain.

But what had looked like deal-breaker weather actually turned out to be nearly perfect. The rain stopped, and we had intermittent sunshine and clouds — all kinds of interesting light. And while the rain ended, there was water everywhere, including on these colorful tulip blooms.