Landscape – Page 21 – Decaseconds

The Old Grid

2017-Jul-192017-Jul-19 adohertyhLeave a comment

My favorite cities are those with borders artificially constrained by water (like San Francisco, Hong Kong, or Manhattan), usually leading to towering structures and high density. San Francisco’s situation was different for a long time; a subset of NIMBY residents (alongside an array of other economic factors) meant that this grid of smaller buildings persists, in spite of housing shortages and corresponding high housing prices. As this slowly changes and the city begins to warm to the idea of new development, this uniform grid of little buildings might someday shift.

Nevada Scale, Large and Small

2017-Jul-17 adohertyh1 Comment

Great expanses of Nevada’s winter landscape look smooth and round: rolling hills and puffy clouds.

Then the landscape tucks in around the Interstate, the chunky details are more apparent. That little fence in the foreground is thoroughly dwarfed by the not-so-distant towers of rock.

Flooded Flats II

2017-Jul-14 adohertyhLeave a comment

Another image from the flooded Bonneville Salt Flats.

Fishing at Picchetti Ranch

2017-Jul-12 adohertyhLeave a comment

Hiking in the hills of Picchetti Ranch in Cupertino, views over Stevens Creek Reservoir and the Bay beyond present a classic Californian landscape. Like a postcard from the mid-twentieth century, the little shape of a kayaking fisherman in the foreground (or the people fishing at the shoreline in the background) shows an ideal Saturday afternoon.

Nevada Valley

2017-Jul-07 adohertyhLeave a comment

Contemplating a drive back across North America, I’m most looking forward to the West. The mildly populated areas (look at the tiny path in the distant center of the image) remind me of the best parts of Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Westerns.

Flooded Flats

2017-Jul-03 adohertyhLeave a comment

So flat are the Bonneville Salt Flats that, during the winter months, the region will be covered uniformly by only about one inch of water. This layer is so thin that it can’t support large waves and surface disturbances, resulting in almost perfect reflection of the far-off hills and clouds.

Trucks in Their Respective Expanses

2017-Jun-30 adohertyhLeave a comment

Hundreds of miles apart from each other, I happened upon these two images of vehicles, paired with their owners, otherwise alone in an expanse of western America. On a clear day, the yellow pickup in the image below is almost lost in the brush.

By comparison, this Nevadan Jeep stands out amid the dusting of snow and descending clouds. Even its driver is farther away. The setting is so perfect that it might as well be a Wrangler advertisement.

Big Pile

2017-Jun-26 adohertyhLeave a comment

Look at this big hill and tiny fence. Though not its original purpose, I like to imagine that fence as an attempt to hold back the advance of the hill.

Shasta and Black Butte

2017-Jun-19 adohertyhLeave a comment

Assembled by the same volcanic activity, California’s Mt. Shasta (left) and Black Butte (right) make for charming mirror-world contrasts of each other, like The Magician’s Ember and Umber.

SuperShasta

2017-Jun-142017-Jun-16 adohertyhLeave a comment

Driving from San Francisco to Portland means passing Mt. Shasta. With the exposure shortened, the array of textures and shadows on the mountain’s snowy surface are revealed.

Currents Beyond the Gate

2017-May-31 adohertyhLeave a comment

The Bay Area features a surprisingly large number of preserved open spaces. The lone figure on the hillside, looking from the relative emptiness of the Marin Headlands across to the grid of San Francisco residences, emphasizes the point well.

Die Manufaktur

2017-May-24 adohertyh1 Comment

In the emptiness of Wyoming, big structures along the interstate are rare. When the temperatures are ultracold and the factory is emitting tons of vapor, that brings up a new level of interest.

Wyoming Wides

2017-May-222017-May-18 adohertyhLeave a comment

Along Interstate 80, stretches of winter Wyoming are wide and barren like I wouldn’t have believed.

In a few stretches, mountains or wind farms crop up in the distance.

But it’s perhaps this image of an orange house, like something from a mid-twentieth-century landscape painting, that best captures the experience.

Western Expanse

2017-May-17 adohertyhLeave a comment

During last winter’s road trip from New York to California, we were struck by the sheer scale of the American West: one step off the Interstate drops you into an enormous expanse. At the edge of Wyoming’s Black Hills, there’s a Bob-Ross-ian grandeur to enjoy.

Berkeley Hills Lifestyle

2017-May-12 adohertyhLeave a comment

Bay Area sunsets shift to the north in summer, where they’re best seen from the houses of the Berkeley Hills. There’s something delightfully Californian about a German sports car parked in front of a mid-century modern home on a ridiculously-graded road.