VacaHills

Davis has always been a big proponent of open space and land preservation. But the flat, boring land around town isn't the the most fun, recreationally or photographically. Thankfully that love of the land has rubbed off on some of the neighboring cities as well. So when a few oil spots in the driveway turned into a big oil slick in the two weeks since Miranda's mom had her oil changed in Vacaville, I used the opportunity to take advantage of Vacaville's more recent open space additions.

If only UC Davis had been UC Vacaville instead. I'd love to ride my bike around these hills everyday instead of seeing nothing but flat the ag land surrounding Davis. The rolling Vaca Hills spotted with oaks, boulders, and wispy grasses are easy to hike and rank up there with the most beautiful of California landscapes.



I limited myself to two fixed lenses, to keep not just the camera but also the pictures simple. I also tried to think in black and white.



Both lenses had large apertures which can give shallow depth of field and light falloff on the corners reminiscent of antique cameras.



Something about an old dead tree sitting alone on the crest of a hill always makes for a cool photo.



I filled up the memory card pretty quickly but on the way back to the car I had to find a file to erase to make room for one last image. About a hundred yards from a sprawling subdivision was this criss-crossing of trails made by several different sized creatures (including a people trail on the left.) It's great that Vacaville decided this space should be open for all of us wandering souls.