Washburn Trail, Joseph D. Grant County Park, Santa Clara County, CA, 2/28/2007
I enjoy the chance to photograph under a brooding and dramatic sky! On this winter's day in Joseph D. Grant County Park, the weather was beautiful and somewhat stormy. The abundance of clouds blowing by presented both opportunities and difficulties. These gorgeous cumulus storm clouds provided a perfect backdrop for a composition, while other clouds to the west (left) blocked the sunlight. I prepared my camera in front of this dormant and crumbling old oak tree and waited until the moment seen here in which the foreground became bathed in late afternoon sunlight, along with distant snowcapped mountains! The snow-covered mountains are known as Poverty Ridge, and are immediately west of Mt. Day and Black Mountain in the Diablo mountain range. The oak woodland at Grant County Park is typical of California. Oak trees provide breeding habitat and food for birds and mammals. The oak community includes species such as the Blue, Black, Live, and Valley Oaks. The old oak tree here is scarred and has lost several major branches, quite possibly during windy storms - nature's way of tree pruning.
