Tag Archives: trees

Rabbitbrush, Ghost Forest

Image June 19, 2024 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

On a late-September morning I headed out into country near Mono Lake, eventually turning off the two-late highway to follow a random gravel track that traced the edge of an extraordinarily large ponderosa pine forest. This area within sight of Mono Lake was burned in a forest fire years ago, and there are still lots of dead trees around the fringe of the forest. The stark beauty of the skeletal trees intrigued me, and I eventually found a place to stop and explore a bit.

This is an austere landscape. Even where the trees still grow there is a lot of space between them, likely due to the dry environment. In many places there is only sagebrush country, and in this spot the sandy soil supports even less vegetation. But it the middle of this — and against the backdrop of those dead trees — rabbitbrush plants were in full, colorful bloom.

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.

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Nature

Cherry Blossom, Hakone Garden

Image May 28, 2024 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

This is another “spring” photograph from our afternoon and evening at the Hakone Estate and Gardens earlier this season. The gardens are open — and worth visiting — all year, but there are special events during cherry blossom season, including the evening hours when we visited. The visit began in late afternoon sunlight, but continued on into the evening when colorful lighting is turned on in the garden.

I have known about the Hakone Garden sfor a long time. Back in my cycling days I rode past many times on my way into the mountains. I went there for some workshops and off-site meetings many years ago. But somehow I had never really known the history of the place. It was created as a retreat in the early 1900s under the direction of a woman who was entranced by Asian gardens she saw at the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. It passed through several private owners before the last one decided to donate it to the town of Saratoga to protect it from being turned into a housing development.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Winter Sunrise, Central Valley

Image May 3, 2024 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

This photograph is one of the final remaining photographs from this past winter in California’s Central Valley. (Who am I kidding? There are probably more that I’ll uncover when I eventually revisit the archive.) I made it on my final visit of the season to photograph migratory birds. This photograph is the result of an unfortunate situation that ultimately turned out OK. I arrived before dawn to find that the gate was locked. As I listened to thousands of birds begin their fly-out beyond that gate, I decided that it made more sense to head off to find other opportunities, and I found this sunrise view a few miles away.

These Central Valley locations fascinate me for a variety of reasons — the migratory birds, the fog, the long views of the Sierra Nevada (as in this photo), the open vistas. Years ago I would never have imagined that such agricultural areas could provide so many photographic opportunities, but then I “discovered” the winter birds. I was hooked, and I’ve gone back every year since then.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Morning Fog and Haze, Distant Mountains

Image March 24, 2024 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

You may need to look closely at this photograph to understand what you are seeing. The foreground is perhaps obvious — a tule fog covered area of Central Valley winter landscape just before sunrise. Beyond that there is a slightly darker band of mountains. These are the Sierra foothills. But look above that. You are not seeing clouds. You are seeing a section of the distant Sierra Nevada crest.

It isn’t every day that the crest is visible from the Central Valley. In particular, foggy and stormy winter days often obscure the range from view. But at dawn — and on through the day when it is exceptionally clear — the range rises in striking fashion to the east and stretches as far as you can see from north to south.

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G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: trees

Rabbitbrush, Ghost Forest

Cherry Blossom, Hakone Garden

Winter Sunrise, Central Valley

Morning Fog and Haze, Distant Mountains

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