Tag Archives: spring

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Dogwood Tree in Bloom, Detail

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Dogwood Tree in Bloom, Detail

Dogwood Tree in Bloom, Detail. Yosemite Valley, California. May 9, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Light filters through the branches of a blooming dogwood tree, Yosemite Valley.

The dogwood trees were blooming all over Yosemite Valley when I was there on May 9. (Unfortunately, the place was swarming with other park visitors as well, but that is a story for another time.) After entering the Valley very early on a Saturday morning I decided to head across to Northside Drive and photograph trees in El Capitan Meadow, one of my favorite photography locations. After finishing up there I thought I’d head back up into the Valley which, with the one-way road layout there, required me to first drive back down the Valley to cross over to Southside Drive. On the way the route passes the famous and iconic "Gates of the Valley" site – and I can hardly ever resist at least a brief stop there. I stopped, got out, and reassured myself that this was not the time to shoot this scene. (I’ll photograph it, but only if the conditions are very, very special.) However, across the road and a bit to the west I spotted several big dogwood trees in full bloom… and in soft partial sun created by the shadows from taller trees nearby. Usually I am not looking for dogwood blossoms so late in the morning, but these looked interesting – I ended up spending some time shooting them from underneath and trying to capture the backlit translucent blooms.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: dogwood, tree, leaf, flower, bracht, bloom, blossom, petal, twig, branch, sky, blue, stem, season, spring, new, california, usa, sierra nevada, travel, Yosemite, valley, national park, nature, foliage, travel, scenic, stock, light, filter, bokeh

Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Two Rocks, Tenaya Creek, Spring

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Two Rocks, Tenaya Creek, Spring

Two Rocks, Tenaya Creek, Spring. Yosemite National Park, California. May 9, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Spring runoff water in Tenaya Creek flows over and around two rocks and reflects the colors of spring growth, Yostmite National Park, California.

Starting later than in most years, I made my first 2009 visit to Yosemite Valley on May 9. The plan was to arrive early on Saturday morning (accomplished), photograph spring runoff (accomplished) and dogwoods (accomplished) and spring trees and other foliage (accomplished) and then get a campsite for the night… Oops. The campsites were gone and I ended up a couple of spots too far down the waiting list. So, instead of staying over on Saturday night and shooting a bit more on Sunday morning, I did a round trip from the SF Bay Area. Ah, well – it is worth the drive to spend one spring day in the Valley.

In the late afternoon I wandered on up toward Mirror Lake. I’m not all that enthusiastic about photographing the lake itself, but along the way there are lots of interesting things – this time of year those include dogwood trees and Tenaya Creek, the subject of this photograph. Along the steeper section of the creek close to Mirror Lake, the water was quite high and washing over the tops of some pretty large rocks. When I spotted the greenish surface reflection coming from sunlit trees along the opposite bank of the creek I decided to put the two subjects together – and his was the result.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
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keywords: california, sierra nevada, travel, Yosemite, valley, national park, tenaya, creek, spring, season, flow, water, blur, rock, boulder, stream, creek, abstract, color, reflection, landscape, nature, scenic, travel, usa, season, runoff, curve, over, around, stock

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

Spring Lupine Blossoms, Point Lobos

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Spring Lupine Blossoms, Point Lobos

Spring Lupine Blossoms, Point Lobos. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. April 26, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Spring lupine flowers blossom at punta de los lobos marinos, Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

The weather was quite foggy at Point Lobos when I photographed these blooming lupine plants along the bluffs near the punta de los lobos marinos in late April. This is actually very interesting light for wildflower photography because diffused light decreases the harsh highlights and brings out a bit more detail in the shadows, even though color balance can be a bit tricky. There were several big clusters of tall lupine plants along this bluff, and I picked one and spent some time photographing it. While sometimes the problem can be finding enough good flowers to get a shot, here the problem more or less the opposite – the flowers were so thick that it was hard to compose a shot that let the foreground flowers stand out a bit from the background!

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: point, lobos, california, usa, spring, monterey, peninsula, carmel, coast, pacific, state, reserve, park, nature, lupine, wildflower, flower, foliage, plant, blossom, bloom, lupine, leaf, nature, scenic, stem, petal, cluster, season, color, stock, yellow, pink, white, purple

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Rocky Inlet and Surf

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Rocky Inlet and Surf

Rocky Inlet and Surf. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. April 26, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Surf washes through a rocky inlet at Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

Yes, yet another photograph from the Day of No Tourists at Point Lobos in late April – when almost no one was there due to the closure of Highway One for the Big Sur Marathon. This little inlet/cove is not far from where I photographed the harbor seal family. I’m pretty certain I’ve visited this exact feature before, but this is the first time I’ve tried to photograph it. (I have photographed some very nearby features – they are actually visible from the same camera position.) The light was very flat – it was overcast and gray from fog – and the colors of these particular rocks did not look like they would work well in a color image, so I decided to go with black and white here. The use of a rather dark neutral density filter – that’s what allowed the long exposure – also alters to color balance in some odd ways. I made several exposures of this spot since it is virtually impossible to predict just how a long exposure of water will turn out.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: point, lobos, california, usa, spring, monterey, peninsula, carmel, coast, pacific, state, reserve, park, nature, rocks, wave, surf, pattern, time, long, exposure, ocean, black and white, monochrome, diffused, blur, inlet, rocky, stock