Mt. Umunhum, San Jose, California

[sury]

My son and daughter bought me a harness for my camera as a father's day gift. I went on a hike on Father's day to test it out.
It was one of the best accessories I ever own now. I was on my feet for 4 hours, shot about 1400+ images with my A99M2 and
did not feel any fatigue at all. Most of the shots are 9 image bracketed shots since it was a bright day and lot of highlights and shadows to contend with.
Info on Mt. Umunhum
https://www.openspace.org/mount-umunhum-sierra-azul

The white stuff you see at the distance is the cloud covering the south end of the Silicon Valley.


The radar tower at the summit of Mt. Umunhum from the start of the trail, about 3.7 miles long each way and gaining about 1600 feet elevation in 3.7 miles to the top.



Silicon Valley. In the distance you see the eastern hills. Between these two ranges of hills is Silicon Valley.

[aster]

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I like the surroundings of the Silicon Valley. I was expecting a lot of sand covered dunes but the area between the hills are pretty green actually. Interesting vignette at the upper corners of the frames. Did you use the lens to its max. width ?
The first brings some opposite elements together nicely and the clouds are bonus.
The tree branches to the left of the third image are a bit distracting from the grand scene.

Would you mind sharing a photo of or a link to your camera harness? You sound like it's user friendly.

Thanks for sharing,
Yildiz

[sury]

Yildiz,
I have been using the lens at 35 end quite a bit since I was capturing the distant landscape.
I do have some that were taken at max wide as well.

A bit of trivia, though the Mojave area of California is desert, the Silicon Valley moniker is a reference
to the many IC (Semiconductor Chip) makers that started here. Since ICs are made from Silicon substrates,
hence the name Silicon Valley. Actually the terrain is quite arable. San Jose was known for its vineyards and orchards
before civilization in the name of progress slowly decimated it. The eastern hills of the valley alternate between lush green
and brown between rainy season and the summer. The western hills tend to be ever green due to moisture coming off the
Pacific ocean. Other side of the hills from San Jose lie coastal towns like Half Moon Bay, Santa Cruz and going south, Monterey
and Carmel.

Here is the link to the brand and the harness that I have.
https://www.cottoncarrier.com/collectio ... -harness-1

Another view of Mt. Umunhum at max wide 17mm.


View of the valley, hopefully with less distractions...


Here is an example of the dramatic contract between western and eastern hills of the valley.

[aster]

.

Hi, Sury;

These look much better. I think there are even better ones in your Flickr account. I spent some time enjoying the photos of your last hike to the preserve area. Interesting place.
Thanks for the trivia. I knew that the area was of interest to newly-founded companies related to technology and software from around circa 1970s.

The camera harness looks like something a photo journalist would use, with a vest and securing attachments.

Thanks for sharing,
Yildiz

[sury]

A few more....

[aster]

.

The first of looking over at the valley is ver nice indeed and I love how the trees are creating canopies along the trail.

Thanks for sharing, Sury.

Yildiz

[sury]

[aster]

.

Lovely, lovely wild flowers….

Thanks for sharing, Sury.
Yildiz