Category: Landscape

Rock Hunting with the “Gem & Mineral Club in Mariposa” along the border between California and Nevada, with camp base in Benton-Hot-Springs.

I guess, a couple of ??? million of years ago, large trees where growing in the western portion of Nevada, with mature tress having diameters of 4-7…> feet at the base. Then came a mudslide or something like that, burying all the trees. After the burial, minerals started to seep into the wood, crystallizing within the cell structure, replacing the organic material and so ultimately turning the upright trees into petrified tree trunks. Yet, then volcanic fissures ripped the earth open, spitting lava all over the place. The tremendous heat caused metamorphosis of the petrified trees, making them “glass-like”, easily breakable, yet still 4-6 feet in trunk diameter. In front of the petrified & metamorphosed tree trunk you can see fragments of the tree trunk chipped off.

Below, you see one of those volcanic fissures.

Looking a bit closer at the fissure, the greenish material looks a bit like Malachite, a greenish copper carbonate hydroxide mineral.

Nearby, greenish copper containing mineral streaks travel through the landscape.

When looking towards the West, mountains can be seen in the distance, but otherwise there is just barren land, absolutely no vegetation anymore.

With the Gold Rush, many Travelers from many places tried their luck by digging for gold. The lucky ones, moved on to San Francisco and built beautiful expensive homes. Left are holes, closed mines, and all sorts of Environmental Leftovers. Here, a few photos taken during a recent hike up into the North Fork of the Merced River that so many people know from visiting the Yosemite Park.

Frequently during wintertime, the San Joaquin Valley is covered by a layer of fog. Here, I try to capture the motion of the fog climbing up into the foothills. Black and White has it’s challenges when depicting a fog or cloud layer from atop, all that white! Yet, I think, here I was able to capture the fog motion. I took several 10 sec photos and worked those in photoshop to reveal fog motion. Enjoy!