These weeds – oat grass? – are typical grasses in open areas of southern California. Â The seed heads are sharp and stick into your socks and shoes and work their way in. Â Pity the poor dog who doesn’t get these removed . . . Mother Nature’s way to ensure a new generation is propagated someplace!
While this is a pretty bleak looking landscape, it also shows you how the heat of summer dries the winter grasses. Â One match, and whoosh! Â Too many fires already in California.
Taken with Velvia 100 film in a pre-WW2 Welta Weltur folder, 6×4.5. Â While out with the camera, it popped open twice – I had jerry-rigged a strap for it but if obviously didn’t work too well! Â The film was processed in C41 as a result at the local photo shop – to pay more for slide film and potentially nothing seemed ridiculous – so it was cross-processed. Â I was quite pleased to see a few out of the 16 survived. Â A bit of work made this picture salvageable. Â Below is the original cross-processed image, and then a variant in black and white.
Oh, how much easier it would have been to get the view by road! Â Instead, a steady uphill slog of about a mile, with twists and turns and changing views. Â The pool of water in the distance is a reservoir, and it looks pretty good from here. Â Others in the area could be dried out in four years, and then what will we do for water? Â Even now, with rain in the forecast, California is still suffering from the effects of a long drought and poor water regulation. Â And climate change.
A touch of morning mist, and the hills beyond the gorge slowly fade away.
Ink, Yarn & Beer 