Tag Archives: wildflower

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

False Solomon’s Seal, Rain

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False Solomon's Seal After Rain

False Solomon’s Seal, Rain. Yosemite National Park, California. June 6, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Ground growing False Solomon’s Seal plants and flowers after morning rain – along Highway 120 in Yosemite National Park, California.

As I entered Yosemite on Highway 120 during the first weekend of June I stopped at one of my favorite dogwood groves along this road. The diffused light from overcast and the intense colors from early morning rain created striking colors in this grove – and I was surprised to find that there were still many dogwood blooms. While wandering around looking for just the right blossoms I happened to look down and notice a lot of lush new undergrowth including this little patch of false solomon’s seal.

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: false, solomons seal, Smilacina racemosa, highway, 120, rain, shower, wet, drop, reflection, flower, leaf, foliage, wildflower, flower, ground, hugging, forest, grove, nature, travel, scenic, green, water, spring, yosemite, national park, california, usa, north, entrance, 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: Nature

Chinese Houses Flowers

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Chinese Houses Flowers

Chinese Houses Flowers. Almaden Quicksilver Park, California. April 18, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A group of Chinese houses spring wildflowers growing alongside the New Almaden trail.

I also made this photograph along a nearby hiking trail at Almaden Quicksilver Park in Santa Clara County, California – in fact it was shot within a couple of minutes and perhaps 100 yards of the Sticky Monkeyflower photograph I posted yesterday. These flowers can be found all over the place in my part of Central California this time of year. To me they can be a bit tricky to photograph – sometimes some of the blossoms may be perfect while others have passed their prime, and they often grow in sunny areas against complex backdrops of foliage. Shooting flowers that include the color white in direct sunlight is really tricky – I hope for a bit of shade or some overcast – and shooting at anything but the largest apertures risks loosing the flower against background, yet shooting at these large apertures it can be tricky to get the whole flower head in focus.

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: flower, wildflower, chinese, lantern, plant, foliage, spring, seaons, green, new, growth, bokeh, green, nature, leaf, santa clara, county, almaden, quicksilver, park, morning, spring, season, san jose, santa clare, county, stock, Collinsia heterophylla

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Sticky Monkeyflower

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Sticky Monkeyflower

Sticky Monkeyflower. Almaden Quicksilver Park, California. April 18, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Spring sticky monkey flower blooms at Almaden Quicksilver Park, Santa Clara County, California.

This is a very common springtime flower in the hills of central California – it is one of the first flowers that I recall learning to recognize when I was a kid. (Something about that name must have caught my attention.) These were photographed along one of my favorite trails at the Almaden Quicksilver Park in the south San Jose area of Santa Clara County.

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: sticky, monkey, flower, Mimulus aurantiacus, Diplacus aurantiacus, bush, island, blossom, wildflower, plant, foliage, leaf, green, orange, bokeh, almaden, quicksilver, santa clara, county, park, mines, california, usa, san jose, spring, nature, stock