Los Huecos Trail, Joseph D. Grant County Park, Santa Clara County, CA, 4/26/2012
Attractive weather and lighting often occur in the hours around sunrise and sunset, and this spring evening delivered exactly what I was hoping for! At this time of day, direct sunlight produces a much warmer rendering than the indirect illumination in shaded areas, and the difference in brightness between the two is less severe than during midday hours. The mellow and colorful conditions around sunset are conducive to good landscape photography. I had admired this view to the south from Los Huecos Trail in Santa Clara County's Joseph D. Grant County Park on earlier occasions, but had continued walking because the lighting was too harsh and the two oak trees didn't stand out from the background. On this day I hurriedly prepared my camera to capture the scene while the two oaks enjoyed the spotlight. When viewing this photograph I am reminded of what my grandfather Harry told me years before I had ever seen a mountain: "Real mountains - even ones that appear solid green at a glance - are actually many colors when studied carefully. You'll find every color there is when looking closely at a mountain". With tiny lavender flowers in the grass, the green and yellow grass itself, tan, red, and orange bark on the trees, shrubs in various hues of green, brown, and cranberry, and distant shades of mint, purple, and blue, these "green" mountains are a perfect testament to my grandfather's artistic wisdom. The landscape at Joseph D. Grant County Park is characteristic of the east foothills of California's Santa Clara Valley with grasslands and majestic oak trees. In the distance at far right across Halls Valley with an elevation of 2,502 feet above sea level is Mt. Misery.
