Last weekend, I hiked the Thunder Knob trail, near Diablo Lake, for the first time - the forecast called for sunny skies, and I wanted to take advantage of that weather to see some mountains! Since that's a fairly short hike, I wandered the old-growth forests of the Thunder Creek trail, just across the highway, in the afternoon. Unfortunately, I ended the day with few good pictures. The winds kicked up on Thunder Knob while I was there, which was part of the problem. Furthermore, the lighting was not ideal for photographing the iconic views over Diablo Lake - the sunlight was coming from directly behind me, rather than from the side or toward me. This kind of front-lighting is easy to expose for, and unlikely to produce a lens flare, but at midday on a sunny day it just isn't very interesting. Something to think about in the future, either on my next visit to Thunder Knob or my next sunny-day excursion.
My personal favorite image of the day came from the Thunder Creek trail: a closeup of the flowers on a black gooseberry shrub (Ribes lacustre, I've also seen it as "swamp currant," "prickly currant," etc.). Though numerous, the flowers are small and easy to miss. When I saw these flowers, I almost didn't stop for a picture, because I was afraid that this shaded area was too dark and I'd need to use a prohibitively long shutter speed. I'm glad I made the effort, though! F/5.
Next, a view of Colonial Peak from the Thunder Knob trail, framed by pine branches. This peak is visible throughout the hike, and one of the highlights of the experience. F/14.
Finally, another shaded scene from the Thunder Creek trail, with red elderberry flowers (Sambucus racemosa) in the foreground. F/6.3.
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