The other day I woke up with a hankering to get outside and smell something like fresh air and see the blue sky without a billboard in front of it. And since I didn’t have time to make a trip out Hwy 395 or the 15, I went local to Silverado Canyon. I have been hiking, biking and off-roading in that canyon since I was a really young kid. My dad used to take me up there, all the way to the top of Santiago Peak. And actually in 30 years, it hasn’t changed much at all. So back to my hike, Syd and I went on up and hiked around for an hour or so. It was mid day so the animals were scarce, which was probably a good thing because Syd likes a good chase. Instead we just walked and looked at all there was to see. Oh and of course, I took a few photos!
This is actually from Blackstar Canyon. When I left my house, the sky was full of big white puffy clouds that I hoped would hang around for a photo. These were all that was left. Photo taken at 28mm at f/8, ISO 400 at 1/2500.
This stream bed turns into a raging torrent after heavy rains. But since we haven’t seen a drop in months, it’s pretty dry.
Poison Oak was every where you looked. Remember…leaves of three, let it be!
There isn’t much in the way of flowers up there this time of year, but if you look hard you still see some nice examples of the local flora! All of these were taken with my 100mm Macro lens. I think the detail that this lens enables you to capture is unreal.
Syd is great out there. She generally walks ahead on the trail to scout everything out, then she turns around and walks back to me to check in. She pretty much repeats that the entire time you’re out. Unfortunately, she’s a nightmare on a leash because she still wants to get ahead and scope things out.
Kind of a cool shot of an oak growing on the side of a hill. Shot with my 50mm at f/1.4, ISO 100 at 1/8000. Converted to B&W in PS and added a warming filter.
