Donner Canyon in Late April

by Matt Tilghman

Title

Donner Canyon in Late April

Artist

Matt Tilghman

Medium

Photograph

Description

Mount Diablo is a stunning icon on the horizon, but it is also replete with tranquil, intimate scenes. Lately, my eye has tended to be more drawn to these simpler scenes. I think this has to do with my recent fascination with native flora. I've been on a kick regarding learning about the local plants, and seeing them in the wild. When a plant catches my eye on a hike, I photograph it, framing it with the surrounding landscape. This is the opposite of what I'm used to: trying to frame a landscape scenic with whatever the foreground has to offer. I think the latter tends to produce the iconic, dramatic images that a landscape photographer is often after, while the former tends to lead to images that are more quiet and intimate, as if inviting you in for a glimpse at the daily life of the flora. This image is from the Donner Canyon hike on Mount Diablo, in California's Bay Area. As it was the last weekend in April, I expected most of the wildflowers to be gone. However, that was really me just defaulting to thinking about the poppies. There were many of other flowers that were still in full show, especially the bush monkey flower. The yellow shrubby butterweed were also still blooming, which is the flower pictured here. I thought it was the perfect flower to be framed by an alpine meadow on a sunny spring day.

Uploaded

May 9th, 2014

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