Black and White Oaks. Almaden Quicksilver Park. January 1, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

A stand of oaks at Almaden Quicksilver Park; taken on New Years Day 2005. I rediscovered this image tonight while sorting through old photgraphs from earlier in the years.
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Oak Grove and Fog. Almaden Quicksilver Park. October 22, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

This is one of my favorite spots at Almaden Quicksilver Park south of San Jose. There is a cluster of oak trees on a small ridge covered with grass. In the fall and winter it receives interesting light as the fog begins to clear.

This image used a bit of (actually, a lot of) Photoshop trickery, including two layers of sharpening and a diffused luminosity blend layer.
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Oak Tree. Calero Park. January 24, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.
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Castle Rock. Castle Rock State Park. September 8, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

I visited Castle Rock State Park (between San Jose and Santa Cruz, California) yesterday for a hike in light rain – surprising for this time of year in Central California.

This shot, unfortunately, is a reminder to me of the importance of using a tripod. I shot it handheld at a low shutter speed (albeit with an image stabilized lens) and it is not sharp enough to make a large print, though it works just fine as a small image on the web.
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