Tag Archives: wildflower

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Baby Blue Eyes Flowers

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Baby Blue Eyes Flowers

Baby Blue Eyes Flowers. Castle Rock State Park, California. April 19, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A group of baby blue eyes flowers blooming in the spring at Castle Rock State Park, California.

On this weekend’s Sunday morning hike out to Goat Rock at Castle Rock State Park (the one here in the San Francisco Bay area) I was surprised to find a large number of these flowers growing in an open area at the top of a low saddle above Goat Rock. I’m more used to seeing them in smaller groups and spread out more.

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: baby, blue eyes, flower, Nemophilia menziesii, wildflower, petal, leaf, stem, branch, green, blue, bloom, blossom, bud, macro, spring, season, castle rock, state park, california, usa, goat rock area, sun, foliage, plant, nature, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Fairy Lantern (Calochortus albus) Flower and Buds

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Fairy Lantern (Calochortus albus) Flower and Buds

Fairy Lantern (Calochortus albus) Flower and Buds. Almaden Quicksilver Park, California. April 18, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A fairy lantern flower in bloom with several buds on the plant yet to bloom.

I photographed this flower over the weekend along a trail at Almaden Quicksilver Park that I visit about this time every year… to photograph this flower. While I occasionally see the Fairy Lantern flower in other locations – if I look carefully – a small valley along the New Almaden Trail near the Mockingbird Hill entrance to the park often contains hundreds of these flowers. I thought that this weekend (April 18 and 19) would mark the peak of the bloom, but my hike their yesterday left me thinking that it may be another week – while some of the flowers had bloomed, many more were still only buds, as are the majority of this specimen.

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: fairy, lantern, chinese, flower, bud, bloom, wildflower, pale, pink, round, green, leaf, pointed, stem, plant, bokeh, nature, foliage, forest, floor, almaden, quicksilver, mines, county, park, santa clara, san jose, nature, stock, Calochortus albus

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Two Fairy Bell Flowers

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Two Fairy Bell Flowers

Two Fairy Bell Flowers. Muir Woods National Monument, California. April 11, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of a pair of fairy bell wildflowers at Muir Woods National Monument, California.

In this black and white photograph of two fairy bells flowers I decided to go with a very diffused rendition. The color and tonalities of this scene were fairly subtle in many ways – for example, the color of the flowers is only a bit more yellow than that of the leaves. The very soft light on the floor of the redwood forest and the very narrow depth of field created by the close distance, long lens, and large aperture contribute various types and amounts of soft and diffused character to the image. I thought it would be interesting, having done so many realistic wildflower photographs in recent weeks, to try something a bit more abstracted.

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: fairy, bells, wildflower, flower, wild, leaf, light, bokeh, blur, branch, plant, foliage, redwood, forest, grove, woods, shade, muir, national, monument, park, golden gate, recreation area, marin, county, california, usa, black and white, monochrome, stock, nature, scenic, travel, petal, branch, Disporum hookerae, Disporum hookeri

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Fairy Bell Wildflowers (Disporum hookeri)

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Fairy Bell Wildflowers (Prosartes smithii)

Fairy Bell Wildflowers (Disporum hookeri). Muir Woods National Monument, California. April 11, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Spring Fairy Bells flowers among the plants on the forest floor at Muir Woods National Monument, California.

This plant grows on the forest floor beneath the Redwoods at Muir Woods National Monument and, no doubt, in many other similar places on the west coast. This is a rather subtle flower – its color is not that different from the color of its leaves, it grows in areas where the light tends to be somewhat dim, and the flowers hide beneath the spreading leaves. It isn’t a flower that I spot right away – unlike, say, trillium – and it is a bit tricky to photograph.

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: Prosartes smithii, Disporum smithii, Fairy, Bells, flower, wild, wildflower, leaf, green, yellow, wihite, plant, foliage, nature, forest, floor, insect, bug, muir woods, national, monument, golden gate, recreation, area, park, marin, county, california, usa, stem, bud, bokeh, stock, Disporum hookeri