Joseph D. Grant County Park, Santa Clara County, CA, 5/6/2009
In this area of California the sky is usually either completely clear or cloudy; periods with a pleasing mix of clouds as seen here are rare and fleeting. Although I had frequented Joseph D. Grant County Park, I had never ventured up this particular hill at the north end of the park until this beautiful spring day. The clouds were blowing by rather quickly as I made this photograph of an old oak tree and the foothills below Mt. Hamilton. A short while later, the clouds were all gone. In order to capture as much of the pretty sky as possible, I used a 47mm Schneider Super-Angulon XL lens, which is the widest rectilinear lens made for a 4x5 view camera like mine. Thanks to the extraordinary lens, this picture enjoys a 120 degree field of view! The 9,560 acre Joseph D. Grant County Park is located in Halls Valley, just east of San Jose, CA.
