Tag Archives: wildflower

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Spring Cattails

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Spring Cattails
Spring cattails growing along a trail in the San Francisco Bay Area hills.

Spring Cattails. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Spring cattails growing along a trail in the San Francisco Bay Area hills.

Although I love to visit and photograph special, exotic, and distant places, there’s a lot to be said for the local spots I’ve come to know over decades of repeated visits. Because they are familiar it is easy to overlook how special they actually are — and how special my relationship with them is. This unassuming little photograph is from such a place.

There is a county park a half hour drive from my home, perhaps a dozen miles away. The park is large and mostly undeveloped, encompassing hardwood forest and grassland hills crisscrossed by old gravel roadways and narrow trails. Long ago I started going there at least in part for the mundane purposes of training for the real trips, my High Sierra backpacking adventures. But gradually the place grew on me as I hiked there in all seasons and all conditions and began to discover little off-the-grid places that few visit. I went there for an evening hike last week, and I passed by a surprising patch of cattails near the end of my walk as the light started to fade.

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: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Globe Lilies

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Globe Lilies
A cluster of spring globe lilies in the San Francisco Bay Area hills.

Globe Lilies. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A cluster of spring globe lilies in the San Francisco Bay Area hills.

Every spring I make a point of visiting these flowers in a little valley in the hills not far from where I live. I thought I might miss them this year, but the heavy winter rainfall delayed the bloom and made it more extensive than usual. The first time I visited I thought the flowers were good. When I went back a few weeks later I expected them to be gone — but instead there were even more of them, more than I remember ever seeing here before.

They can be a little tricky to photograph. Because the plant isn’t too tall and because the flowers hang down at the end of spindly branches, it can be tricky to get a good camera angle on them. They also tend to grow in sheltered places that are at least partially shaded, so the light can be low. On the other hand, when there are as many as I saw this year, if I just stick with it I’m bound to find a few photogenic flowers!

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 | Twitter | 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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Spring Fairy Lantern Plant

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Spring Fairy Lantern Plant
A fairly lantern plant with buds forming.

Spring Fairy Lantern Plant. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A fairly lantern plant with buds forming.

The fairy lantern flowers are among my favorite in my part of California. For decades I did not know of them, but one year I hiked down a particular little canyon not far from where I live and discovered them, their ball-like shapes hanging beneath the pointed leaves of these plants. Every year I head back to that spot to photograph them again, and this year was no exceptions. However…

… it seems that I arrived too soon this year! Or perhaps, I was on time but the spring transition came a bit later following our very wet and colder-than-normal winter. In any case, it seemed like all of the wildflowers were blooming late and my fairy lanterns were only at the early bud stage.

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 | Twitter | 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.

Photographs: Nature

Sunflower

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Sunflower
A wild sunflower in the California hills.

Sunflower. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A wild sunflower in the California hills.

These impressively large flowers pop up in the spring at a local park where I’ve hiked for decades. It doesn’t seem much like the traditional sunflower, but that’s what my searching tells me it is. The plants grow close to the ground, and the flowers are large — perhaps four inches across or more. In my experience there is only a short window to photograph them while they look good.

I think everyone should have a few local outdoor places that they travel too, going back to them over years and even decades. It is exciting to visit far off places, and I’ve been to my share of them. But there is something special about a nearby place that you know like an old friend. At this spot I know exactly where and when to look for very specific types of flowers… and I go back every year to revisit them.

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 | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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