Tag Archives: nature

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: People In Landscape, Photographs: Travel

Spring On The Plain

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Spring On The Plain
A lone horseback rider heads onto a California plain filled with spring wildflowers and backed by distant snow topped peaks.

Spring On The Plain. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A lone horseback rider heads onto a California plain filled with spring wildflowers and backed by distant snow topped peaks.

Continuing today with the bittersweet 2020 theme that is a combination of “wish I could be here” and “at least I can take a virtual trip,” here is a photograph from Spring back in 2019, when I was out and about and making photographs in several beautiful areas of California. (In truth, my current situation is much better than that of many other people — I don’t have that much to complain about — so let’s focus on the positive here!)

I had spent part of a couple of days exploring and photographing this area as I passed through on my way to a California desert location. Most of the time was spent making pure nature photographs, but I couldn’t resist taking advantage of a serendipitous moment when a group of horseback riders wandered into the foreground of this grand vista of flower-covered plain and distant snow-capped mountains.

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 and Amazon.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Pacific Sky

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Pacific Sky
Pacific Ocean sky, California Coast.

Pacific Sky. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Pacific Ocean sky, California Coast.

One of the things I miss most during this time of travel restrictions is the chance to be in the grand landscape, the landscape of deserts, mountains, ocean, and valleys that extends into the far distance. I do get outside daily, for neighborhood walks and to work in our garden, but all of these are landscapes on a much smaller scale.

I made this photograph last year on a foray down the California coast, where I can never get enough of the grand westward views out over the ocean and toward the distant horizon. On this day the scene was softened by big clouds and atmospheric haze over the ocean that glowed in the sunlight.

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 and Amazon.

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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: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Wildflowers and Fog

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Wildflowers and Fog
California spring wildflowers recede into tule fog.

Wildflowers and Fog. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

California spring wildflowers recede into tule fog.

This photograph continues with the theme of last year’s California spring season and my travels to photograph it. (Travel? Remember that?) This location among the range of hills between the coastal areas and the Great Central Valley is full of grasslands, oak-covered hills, though it becomes increasingly dry as you travel further south and east. That particular spot seems almost desert-like during much of the year. But during a short period in late-winter and early-spring, especially in a wet year, it springs to life. Hills are covered in green and there is a climax of extensive and beautiful wildflowers.

Here the wildflowers stretch for miles across the lowlands of a giant valley that runs alongside the San Andreas earthquake fault. A typical photograph of this location might show that expanse and the hills in the distance. But on this morning tule fog arrived and reduced the size of the visible world down to a radius of a few hundred feet — albeit a spectacularly colorful radius!

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 and Amazon.

Blog | About | 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: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Spring Flowers, Mountains, And Clearing Fog

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Spring Flowers, Mountains, And Clearing Fog
Morning fog dissipates above wildflower-covered California hills.

Spring Flowers, Mountains, And Clearing Fog. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning fog dissipates above wildflower-covered California hills.

On this Easter Sunday morning, here in the San Francisco Bay Area it is gray and gloomy, with drizzle falling. I have just returned from my morning “socially-distance” walk around the neighborhood, and few people are to be seen. Normally I like weather like this, but today it reminded me how much life has changed in the past month, and that it will likely not return to the old normal for quite a while. Returning home, I decided to engage in a bit more “virtual spring” escapism and share this photograph.

At about this time a year ago I was out and about. I spent some time in this area on my way to Death Valley, and I made a second, shorter trip, too. On this morning I took a drive down a wide flower-filled valley between hills as morning fog cleared, stopping whenever and wherever I felt like it, enjoying the sun’s warmth, and making photographs.

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 and Amazon.

Blog | About | 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.

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