Tag Archives: tree

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

Redwood and Rhododendron

June 9, 2018 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

A curving rhododendron with a few spring blooms in dense North Coast redwood forest

I mentioned earlier that this was probably my first “serious” trip to photograph the redwood forests in the Redwood National and State Parks are of far-northern California. When I travel to a new location like this I tend to do only enough research to point me in the right direction. For example, I checked maps and I figured out that there are four main parks, and I looked up a hike or two. But I did not, and I generally do not, do extensive research and planning. For me a big part of the adventure is the discovery part, where I poke around, use my instincts, make mistakes, and take interesting turns… and see what develops. There is a method to my madness — I think this helps me more quickly develop a person orientation to the place.

So on this morning I headed to the closest park, Jedediah Smith State Park. I found what looked like it might be a road through the park. It was. Sort of. It turned into gravel and then came to a locked gate just past the park entrance. So I backed up, retreated, and tried going around the park to the other side. Eventually I found a nice hike of a few miles to a big grove of old-growth trees, but first I came across this beautiful little spot where there were a few rhododendrons just beginning to bloom.

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

Spring Dogwood, Water

May 28, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Branches of spring dogwood trees, against a backdrop of the Merced River

Dogwood trees are a spring phenomenon everywhere, but they are a special attraction in the low and middle elevations of the Sierra Nevada every spring. Near the end of April these trees leaf out with flower-like “bracts” soon appearing, and their white or near-white color stands out against the green foliage, especially in low light and shadows.

As so many Yosemite photographers do — it is nearly impossible to resist! — I photographed these branches, leaves, and flowers against the backdrop of the Merced River, its spring flow reflecting the colors of the sunlight on nearby cliffs. I made the photograph at the very beginning of dogwood season, in late April, and a month later I was still able to find trees full of the white flowers in other locations within the park.

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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: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Black Oaks and Ghost Trees

May 7, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A pair of skeletal dead “ghost trees” behind a row of black oak trunks

This is a subject familiar to virtually anyone who has spent much time in Yosemite Valley, and especially to photographers who have worked there. Generally, the black oaks of the Valley are one of its most characteristic features, tied to its relatively low elevation in the Sierra Nevada. Oaks are lowland trees, but they are still abundant at the elevation of the Valley. You’ll find them in warmer, open areas, often near meadows.

While they are not the most colorful trees, in the right light they can be fascinating. Early in the season the backlit leaves can be intensely colorful, and the same effect is possible in autumn light. Their curving, skeletal trunks can be quite beautiful in snow, where they contact with the near-perfect verticals of conifers. This group of trees grows unusually close together. As a result they have strongly vertical character, likely created as they compete with one another for access to sunlight. I photographed these in early spring, when brown autumn leaves remained on the branches and before the new spring growth appeared.

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

Forest Scene

May 5, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The trunks of tall conifers trees in afternoon light

I had initially stopped near these trees to photograph an entirely different subject in the opposite direction, behind my position as I made this photograph. I spent a good deal of time on that other subject, but in the end it didn’t (at least not as of this date) end up seeming to “work” quite the way I envisioned. As I finished I saw this row of strong, side-lit tree trunks and thought it might make a photograph. Ironically, I almost didn’t both — at first the light wasn’t remarkable, and I knew that I had photographed similar subjects in the past with success. I wasn’t sure that this version was going to work.

But, this being a cloudy day in the Valley, the variable light began to play on the trees, alternately lighting them and putting them in shade. At the same time, the variability extended to the complex pattern of more distant forest. I’m always intrigued by the challenge of making a workable composition out of very complex and “busy” subjects, and here the momentary light makes all the difference. (And, yes, I do seem to be in a bit of a “black and white mood” with some recent photographs. Maybe this is to balance out some of the other highly colorful images.)

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: tree

Redwood and Rhododendron

Spring Dogwood, Water

Black Oaks and Ghost Trees

Forest Scene

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.