Tag Archives: state

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

Redwood Grove, Humboldt Redwoods

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Redwood Grove, Humboldt Redwoods
A dense grove of old- and new-growh coast redwoods, Humboldt Redwoods State Park.

Redwood Grove, Humboldt Redwoods. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A dense grove of old- and new-growh coast redwoods, Humboldt Redwoods State Park.

When photographing new locations, there is a tension between knowing enough and knowing too much ahead of time. In most cases, some preparatory research about a place is useful — it lets you find your way to (and back from!) interesting locations, and it alerts you to their existence. On the other hand, knowing too much about a place limits opportunities to experience the feeling of “discovering” something unexpected. When we arrived at this grove near the end of an exploratory loop to the far Northern California coast, the unexpected stillness and quiet of this magnificent grove was magical.

Another tension concerns the best way(s) to interpret coast redwood forests in photographs. For me, the path usually lies somewhere between the (hopeless and uninteresting) idea of “capturing” supposed objective reality and fascinating and extravagantly subjective and even fantastical interpretations that may be problematic. I don’t think that there is a right answer, but extreme cases raise important questions. On this visit I focused on carefully considering what I see without the camera — how cool/warm the light appears in these places, how much detail can I really see, how much light is really in the scene. These observations inform how I render these subjects — and my thinking about the boundaries between what was there, how the camera “saw” it, and how I want you to see it.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Redwoods and Rhododendrons

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Redwoods and Rhododendrons
A lush understory of rhodendron trees beneath coast redwoods, Del Norte Redwoods State Park.

Redwoods and Rhododendrons. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A lush understory of rhodendron trees beneath coast redwoods, Del Norte Redwoods State Park.

This year we mostly missed the peak rhododendron bloom. It can be a little tricky to time this just right, especially when we only had about five days to visit the area. This year we targeted a part of the calendar during which we had good luck a couple of years ago… but this time the bloom was not as widespread. My suspicion is that this was due to some combination of the natural variations in timing plus the fact that this year California and the west are in a very serious drought. And while the redwood forest looks (and is) a lot wetter than other parts of the state, it is drier there than in most typical years.

I’ve thought a lot about the best ways (a distinctly plural concept!) to portray these giant forests. Because of the tree’s remarkable height, the first instinct is to somehow capture that full skyward stretch. There are ways to do this, but typically this requires getting some distance from the trees and perhaps finding an opening into a grove or simply photographing a whole section of the forest from outside its boundaries. You could photograph straight up into the canopy, too. A few years ago it occurred to me that one way to suggest the immense height of the trees is to not show it, but to intentionally leave out the upper part of the trees and let the gigantic trunks imply the invisible height. Here I also wanted to include and emphasize the lush undergrowth with some very healthy-looking rhododendron plants in the foreground.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Redwood Forest Foliage

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Redwood Forest Foliage
A lighter-color plant stands out among forest foliage beneath Northern California coast redwoods.

Redwood Forest Foliage. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A lighter-color plant stands out among forest foliage beneath Northern California coast redwoods.

While the giant trees are usually the primary factor drawing me to the redwood forests of the California coast, I inevitably find myself distracted by the more intimate world of the forest floor. This is even more true on days when the light is soft and luminous and the shapes and tonalities of this foliage become especially beautiful.

As anyone who follows my photography knows, I’m not always the best source of plant identification information, to say the least. I may know a plant — where it is found, how it grows, what it looks like in different seasons, and more — but quite often I am unsure of what it is called. I did not think about the identify of this beautiful arrangement of leaves as I made the photograph, but in looking it up a few weeks later I’m guessing that it might be salmon berry. Input from more knowledgable people is welcomed! I grew above a deeply shadowed bed of redwood sorrel and other lush plants.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Morning Fog, Rocks, and Surf

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Morning Fog, Rocks, and Surf
The surf rolls in on a quiet, foggy morning along the coast north of Santa Cruz, California near Waddell Creek.

Morning Fog, Rocks, and Surf. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The surf rolls in on a quiet, foggy morning along the coast north of Santa Cruz, California near Waddell Creek.

As we begin to come to terms with the near-end of the Covid-19 crisis in my part of the world — the San Francisco Bay Area — it begins to seem more possible to simply get up, make decision about a destination, and head out for the day. (I do understand that I’m particularly fortunate to live in a place where vaccination rates are very high.) Probably the most likely subject on my “Hey, I’ll go photograph today!” list is the Pacific Ocean coastline, which I can reach as quickly as a bit more than a half hour.

Objectively speaking, there was nothing all that special or unusual about this May morning. The fog, typical at this time of year, blanketed the coast and slid inland to the tops of coastal hills. As I drove a section of the Pacific Coast Highway north of Santa Cruz the fog began to break up in spots, though few people were there to see it on this weekday morning. After I turned around and started back I passed by this spot and noticed the pile of rocks extending across the beach in front of the shallow bay filled with waves leading to distant sea stacks and bluffs.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.