Under the Endless Sky Sneak Peek

The new edition of Under the Endless Sky is at the printers (I should get an advanced copy about the time this post is published), so I thought I'd share a sneak peek at the book.

As previously posted, the book has a new cover; a photo of one of the most amazing sunsets I've ever seen in the Sacramento Valley, taken on the edge of a rice field north of Butte Slough.

In fact, the entire cover spread is new, and instead of being a smaller 8x10 inch format, the book is a much larger hardcover 11x13 format. (Click images to view larger.)

Not everything has changed about the book, however. The opening pages have few major changes and many of the same images.

The most major changes are the addition of new chapters on wildlife and wildflowers...

...and the addition of a number of new two-page spread images.

The book has expanded from 59 to 94 images, includes a map, as well as a list of all the images taken in the back of the book.

This is a special edition book, and will not be widely available. If you are interested in obtaining a copy, please contact me at adunn@adunnphotography.com.

Spring on Table Mountain

It's spring and time for wildflowers. I took a quick trip out to Table Mountain near Oroville (a major wildflower destination) in the end of March to see how the wildflowers were doing. It's been a very dry year,  and I wasn't sure how good the bloom would be, and sure enough, though there was a fair amount of lupine and goldfields, the poppies and owl's clover were sparse. It could be that I was there a bit early in the season, but it just might not have been a great year for wildflowers.

Still, it was a beautiful day, and I managed to capture a nice sunset. Enjoy!

Poppies on Table Mountain

Brodiaea on Table Mountain

Goldfields (Lasthenia californica) on Table Mountain

Sunset on Table Mountain

Spring is Coming!

Despite all the rain and gray weather we are having, spring is coming. I promise. And with it will come green hills and wildflowers. I'll be doing more posts in the next month or so on spring photography, but here's a taste of what you can expect to see as the weather warms and the skies clear.

You can view all of my photos tagged with 'spring' on my main website.

California Poppies north of Chico

Wildflowers and Mount Lassen, from the Vina Plains, north of Chico.

Oak tree along Leesville Road, west of Williams

Owls Clover on Table Mountain

Sutter Buttes in Spring

February - Almond Blossom Month

Mid-February is special and particularly beautiful time in the Sacramento Valley; the time when the hundreds of thousands of acres of almond trees bloom.

California produces 80% of the world's almonds, and winter wouldn't be complete without the endless sea of white flowers that appear for two weeks every year.

Here is a sample of what the orchards look like during the bloom (you can see my full set of almond orchard images on my main website):

Hallmarks of the Sacramento Valley: The Sacramento River

Nothing communicates the character of the Sacramento Valley's natural environment like the Sacramento River.

The river begins way up near the Oregon border in the northeast corner of the state as the Pit River. A shorter tributary, the Sacramento River proper, begins on the slopes of Mt. Shasta. Along with the McCloud River, they meet at Shasta Lake and flow from there through the valley, past downtown Sacramento, into the Sacramento Delta, and then on to the San Francisco Bay.

You can learn a lot more about the river on these sites:

• sacramentoriver.org
• Sacramento River Watershed Program
• Sacramento River Presentation Trust

As one of the defining natural and recreational features of the Sacramento Valley, photographs of the river can do a lot to communicate the character and lifestyle in our region.

Here are a few of my images of the Sacramento River at its tributaries:

The Pit River at Fall River Mills, in far northeastern California

Boaters on the Sacramento River near Anderson

The Sacramento River at Sacramento

The Sacramento skyline reflected in the Sacramento River

Clouds reflected in the Sacramento River near Knights Landing

The Sacramento River at Rio Vista in the Sacramento Delta

Walnut Orchards in the Fall

The autumn leaf colors in the Sacramento Valley this year have lasted longer than most years. I've gotten several sets of great images of fall color from Chico's Bidwell Park. In addition, this has been a great year for color in the walnut orchards around the valley.

In many years, the leaves on the walnut trees just turn splotchy brown, but this year we've seen a lot of great color - mixes of greens and yellows - and even some golds - in the tree leaves. And the color is lasting longer than in most years. As a result, I've made several shooting trips this season just to photograph the walnut orchards as they change color.

Here are a few images from walnut orchards near Corning and Chico taken in the past week or so. I think you'll agree that walnut orchards can be amazingly beautiful at this time of year. (you can view the full set of recent orchard photos on my main Website).

Fall in Chico's Bidwell Park

Bidwell Park is the jewel of Chico, and one of the best seasons to visit and photograph the park is during the fall when the trees are changing color.

As a result, I've made an effort to visit the park several times over the past couple of weeks to record the changing seasons. There is still color in the trees in the park; hopefully I'll get a chance to visit at least once more before the leaves fall.

These photos say a lot about the natural environment of Chico and the north state, and can be used to communicate the lifestyle of Northern California. These images could be used by any business promoting the quality of life in Chico and Northern California, including banks, realtors, local business, job recruiters, or anyone trying to demonstrate that Chico is an attractive place to do business and live.

Here are a few images from my recent visits:

Mt. Shasta - Recent Shoot

Mount Shasta is without a doubt one of the most dramatic landmarks in northern California, and a popular icon of the north state. Many of my images of Mt. Shasta have been used in calendars, business cards, websites, magazine covers, mural-sized prints, and many other publications.

A few weeks ago we had our first real storm of the season and I decided that the resulting snowfall on the mountain would make for some nice additions to my catalog of Mt. Shasta images, With winter rapidly approaching, my clients need fresh seasonal images of Mt. Shasta and our region. This shoot was a good chance to get a head start.

On my main website, you can view my full catalog of Mt. Shasta images, but here are a few from my most recent trip:

My strategy for shooting Mt. Shasta is fairly simple: try to keep the sun at a 90° angle to the camera view of the mountain, shoot in either the very late afternoon or early morning, and try to find interesting foregrounds to contrast with the mountain.

Ready for Winter?

Winter is coming and my clients always have a need for images that evoke winter and the holiday season in our region. I have a wide variety of winter season landscape images from northern California, including the Sierra Nevada, Mt. Lassen, Mt. Shasta and the Sacramento Valley.

Here are a few choice images from my stock selection.

For a complete list of winter-themed photos, visit my main website.