Tag Archives: state

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

California Golden Poppies – Antelope Valley, California

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California Golden Poppies - Antelope Valley, California
California Golden Poppies . Antelope Valley, California. April 5, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

California golden poppy flowers at the Antelope Valley California Poppy Preserve. It was extremely windy on the morning of my visit to the extremely popular Poppy Preserve – which seems to have assumed a significant place on the tourist circuit judging by the number of international visitors and the line of cars waiting to enter as I left. (I got there early and pretty much beat the crowd.)

Nothing is quite as much “fun” as trying to photograph flowers in a 40 mph wind. Eventually I found a few sheltered patches of poppies in small hollows and behind ridges and then waited patiently for the rare moments when the gale briefly diminished.

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

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Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Building Detail, Bodie

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Building Detail, Bodie
Building Detail, Bodie
“Building Detail, Bodie” — An old building in the Bodie ghost town.

Yes, there really is snow falling in this photo. You might be able to see it a bit if you click on the thumbnail to see the somewhat larger size. I was caught – somewhat pleasantly – by surprise when I encountered this rather cold weather at the end of May in 2006.

Update 2025: Bodie is a large ghost town east of the Sierra Nevada that is a California State park. The place is maintained in state of arrested decay — not restored to be like new, but not allowed to decay and disappear like typical ghost towns. It is located in pretty tough country — the sagebrush desert of the western edge of Basin and Range territory. It can be very hot and dry out here in the summer, but it is also one of the coldest places in the West in the winter. On this visit I caught a surprise late-season light snowfall.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Spring Snow Flurries, Bodie

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Spring Snow Flurries, Bodie
Spring Snow Flurries, Bodie. Bodie, California. May 27, 2006. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of late spring snow flurries in the ghost town of Bodie, California. Bodie is the famous and relatively well-preserved ghost town in the silver mining area of the high desert east of Yosemite National Park. (Posting the series of Rhyolite photographs made me realize that I have some older photographs of Bodie that haven’t been posted here yet.)

keywords: bodie, ghost, town, california, usa, desert, abandoned, buildings, mine, mining, state, park, houses, sheds, windows, walls, hill, cloudy, black and white, porch, landscape, scenic, travel, history, stock

Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Four Surf Fisherman

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Four Surf Fishermen
Four Surf Fishermen. Gazos Creek, California. March 1, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

This is one of those landscape photographs in which appearances can be deceiving. I suppose it looks fairly calm and quiet, but getting this shot was the result of working very quickly and spontaneously with a very long lens as the subjects moved quickly through the scene. I had just gotten out of my car with a plan to observe and then photograph the seascape when I noticed the group of fisherman heading across the sand toward a rocky headland to the south.

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