Tag Archives: spring

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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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.

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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

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.

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Redwood National & State Parks

Plants, Redwood Forest Floor

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Plants, Redwood Forest Floor
Lush plants growing beneath redwood trees, Redwood National and State Parks

Plants, Redwood Forest Floor. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Lush plants growing beneath redwood trees, Redwood National and State Parks.

One morning while visiting the Redwood National and State Parks in early June we headed away from the more heavily-visited areas on a hunch, and we ended up in a very quite place where no one else was around. It was an area full of tall trees, plentiful undergrowth, a few rhododendron flowers, and the deep quiet and stillness that characterizes such places. We lingered along a section of trail where there were lots of redwood forest undergrowth plants.

If you haven’t photographed deep in a redwood forest, you would probably be surprised by just how dark it can be, even in the daylight hours. When photographing there I often find myself caught between the need to get enough depth of field (small aperture) and keep a short enough shutter speed to stop the constant slight motion of the plants in subtle breezes. I end up raising ISO and, still, sometimes find myself with shutter speeds measured in seconds! This little grouping was entirely green, of course, but the taller plants were a bit lighter and stood out against the background bed of redwood sorrel.

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.