Tag Archives: spring

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Sea Stacks, Pacific Coast

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Sea stacks along the upper Big Sur coastline

Sea Stacks, Pacific Coast. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sea stacks along the upper Big Sur coastline.

California’s Pacific coastline is a sort of “home base” for me. Despite being born in landlocked Minnesota, I’ve lived within less than an hour of the coast since I was four-years-old. My childhood memories include trips to Santa Cruz, Monterey, and points north and south. One of our favorites was visiting the Point Lobos tide pools.

Many visitors to the coast come hoping to see beautiful blue sky days with warm sun. Those are not my favorite conditions — I prefer a good winter storm or the right kind of fog. But this photograph was made on one of those days back in April of this year. Following a wet winter, this was one of those glorious early-spring days when even I welcome the sunshine along this coast!

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

Red Leaves

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Red Leaves
Red and purple spring leaves

Red Leaves. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Red and purple spring leaves.

I made this photograph during a morning visit to a botanical garden with Patty a few weeks ago. We arrived early enough that there were still areas next to hedges, under trees, and near structures that remained in the shade — the full daylight sun is often too intense and harsh for this sort of photography. These leaves, while themselves in shade, were close enough to brighter light to puck up some directional highlights.

The colors actually were pretty much this intense. The plant has very reddish (or maroon in some light) leaves, and the shadows shifted the balance toward blue. Something that only occurred to me much later — the soft, rounded shapes of the background level almost suggest the very blurry bokeh shapes in the even further distance.

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

California Golden Poppies

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California Golden Poppies
Two California golden poppies in a field of poppies and spring green

California Golden Poppies. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two California golden poppies in a field of poppies and spring green.

As a California photographer, I suppose that it is my solemn obligation to photograph our state flower, the California Golden Poppy. (Although it is called “golden,” the most common color is actually more orange, and other variations are also possible.) This flower really is found all over the state: in suburban gardens, alongside roadways, in huge oceans of color in a few special places in good years.

To be honest, I photographed these at a botanical garden! I usually photograph them “in the wild,” but this location allowed me to have a somewhat more controlled working environment. For this photograph I got down low, used a relatively large aperture, and let the light come from behind and make the flowers glow a bit.

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: Nature

Green Forms

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Green Forms
Green foliage in spring light

Green Forms. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Green foliage in spring light.

There are two photographers in our household, and one specializes in close-up photography, especially featuring the plant world. I’m not that photographers. — she would be Patricia Emerson Mitchell, my wife. Recently I’ve tagged along a few times when she went to photograph at a couple of botanical gardens, and the exercise stretching by “seeing” skills in interesting ways.

In person you might not have found this plant to be all that interesting. The light was tricky (I used a diffuser to control it) and only a small section of the plant seemed to produce a decent composition. But I moved in close, used a macro lens, and found something that focuses on the gestures of the plant’s shape, and on a small, very green world.

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.