Tag Archives: spring

Photographs: Nature

Tidy Tips Flower

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Tidy Tips Flower
A spring tidy tips flower

Tidy Tips Flower. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A spring tidy tips flower.

This photographs takes me back just a few months to this past April, when a wetter-than-normal winter produced a spectacular wildflower bloom all over California. The state’s late-winter and spring transition is always special, but in these wet years it can astound. Places that are dry and brown most of the year are magically transformed — with fields of lush grasses and wildflowers everywhere.

In early April we made a weeklong trip to some of these typically dry areas to photograph the brief display. We spent a couple of days in the hills located roughly between the coast and the Central Valley. As we headed east, into increasingly drier climates, we stopped at one remarkable valley carpeted with wildflowers, the place where I made this photograph.

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: 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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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

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.

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

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.