Behind the Windmill

I've driven by the "Windmill Farm" in Livermore for over a decade now, most frequently on the way to or from skiing in Tahoe or camping in Yosemite, but I've never stopped at the rolling hills to explore. Willie had seen the rolling hills and found a local park with trails zig-zagging through them and suggested we visit for sunrise. After an early morning meet-up, a drive over to Livermore, and then a hike into the park, we hunkered down in small divots in the hill to try to get ourselves out of the wind tunnel (it worked surprisingly well). A thin layer of clouds kissed the sky with orange and my favorite part of the morning was the 3 minutes when the sun hadn't quite risen above the hills, but baked the hills in glowing spots of light. A few minutes later the sun rose above the hills and blinded us (and our cameras) and we packed up and drove home. Nikon D850 w/Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8: 80mm, f/11, 1/6 sec, ISO 64

Behind the Windmill

I've driven by the "Windmill Farm" in Livermore for over a decade now, most frequently on the way to or from skiing in Tahoe or camping in Yosemite, but I've never stopped at the rolling hills to explore. Willie had seen the rolling hills and found a local park with trails zig-zagging through them and suggested we visit for sunrise. After an early morning meet-up, a drive over to Livermore, and then a hike into the park, we hunkered down in small divots in the hill to try to get ourselves out of the wind tunnel (it worked surprisingly well). A thin layer of clouds kissed the sky with orange and my favorite part of the morning was the 3 minutes when the sun hadn't quite risen above the hills, but baked the hills in glowing spots of light. A few minutes later the sun rose above the hills and blinded us (and our cameras) and we packed up and drove home. Nikon D850 w/Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8: 80mm, f/11, 1/6 sec, ISO 64

Morning Drive

Willie and I woke up early one spring morning to see if we could capture a nice sunrise over the hills and windmills in the Bay Area. In typical photography fashion, the weather wasn't particularly pleasant, especially given the windmills were placed there for a reason: it was quite windy. We setup along a hillside and I realized if I hunkered down into a natural bunker, I could block the wind for both my personal enjoyment and to reduce potential camera shake with the longer telephoto lens out. As the sun finally came up, I was gravitated to the way it hit the hills here with the trees and the road curving around ... followed by the rolling hills in the background. It wasn't the shot we came for, but when following the light, sometimes you still enjoy magic! Nikon D850 w/Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8: 80mm, f/11, 1/30 sec, ISO 64

Round the Bend

Willie has spent a lot of time photographing the rolling hills in the Bay Area and I've always been a bit jealous of his collection. There's been nothing stopping me other than my own laziness, but when he asked if I wanted to shoot hills with him, it was an easy: "YES!" We got up very early and drove about an hour to the side of a dirt road, where we then hiked up into the back entrance of a local park and made our way over to a view of hills and windmills. We had hoped there'd be a bit of color in the sky and while it wasn't anything spectacularly nuclear, the way the sun kissed the green hills made for a nice morning. I loved how the light was hitting this patch of hills with the trees on them, with the dirt road passing through it. Despite our main composition being further to the left, I kept coming back to this little bend, with the layers of hills and the golden green light hitting it just so. It made up for all the wind and cold that we felt as we waited for the sun to come up. Nikon D850 w/Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8: 170mm, f/10, 1/80 sec, ISO 250