California's Gold Rush Country by Dave Wyman
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  2. California's Gold Rush CountryCalifornia's Gold Rush Country


As we have for the past few years, Ken Rockwell and I led a group of photographers along the backroads of California. This year, we explored the northern reaches of California's historic Gold Rush country. Our circular route led us north and east from Sacramento, the state capitol, to the quintessential gold rush towns of Nevada City and Downieville, down the Feather River Canyon to the town of Chico, and back to Sacramento. In between we photographed old mines, ghost towns, local citizens, ourselves, and the sublime scenery of the Northern California.


The Gold Rush began in 1848, with the discovery of flakes of gold at the bottom of a creek flowing through a lumber mill. People are still looking for gold, and still finding it, in one form or another.


Though California's image of late seems tarnished, gold can still be found, and not just in miners' pans or under the ground. More transitory yet recurrent forms of gold can be found in fields of golden flowers, and not infrequently at sunrise and sunset, when golden light fills the sky. And the Golden State is still a land of golden opportunities, drawing now, as it did more than a century and a half ago, people from around the world. In this sense, surely Gold Rush country is as much as state of mind as it is a place fixed by geography.


My photographic approach saw me as often as not restricting my field of view. I attempted to master methods of photographing visual fragments, rather than the entirety of what I saw. In so doing, I hoped to create my own encompassing vision of Gold Rush country.


There is Still Gold in Gold Rush Country

What a glorious end to the day. I had only to point my camera and depress the shutter. All the elments were there: a beautiful scene, a leading line, a small-enough f/stop to put everything in focus.
Capture Date: Apr 20, 2010 06:03 PMViews: 348

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Overlooking Upper Bidwell Park

Capture Date: Apr 20, 2010 06:08 PMViews: 344

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Chuck Photographs BIg Chico Creek Canyon

Capture Date: Apr 20, 2010 06:21 PMViews: 342

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Wildflowers in Upper Bidwell Park

Capture Date: Apr 20, 2010 06:16 PMViews: 343

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Wildflower in Bloom, Upper Bidwell Park

Even at f/8, at this magnification, the background is blurred sufficiently to put emphasis on the flowers.
Capture Date: Apr 20, 2010 06:37 PMViews: 339

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Bidwell Park Ranger Shane Romane

Capture Date: Apr 20, 2010 06:12 PMViews: 342

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Steve at the Honey Run Covered Bridge

Capture Date: Apr 20, 2010 05:33 PMViews: 343

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Field of Lupines, Table Mountain (Above the Town of Oroville)

Capture Date: Apr 21, 2010 11:10 AMViews: 344

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Creek and Wildflowers, Oregon City

This is another scene found by one of our participants, Steve Johnson. Colors were saturated in my computer; this was, after all, gold country.
Capture Date: Apr 21, 2010 10:52 AMViews: 341

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Oregon City Covered Bridge

Ravi pointed out to me that this position not only made for a nice photograph, but obscured an annoying road sign, too.
Capture Date: Apr 21, 2010 10:46 AMViews: 340

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Cherokee - Former Gold Rush Town

For me, the yellow line matches up nicely with the yellow building. My camera's lens was pointed to low minimize the gray, overly bright sky; then, with my photo program, I cloned some of the trees into the background to obscure the portion of sky that was still visible.
Capture Date: Apr 21, 2010 10:20 AMViews: 343

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Honey Run Road Covered Bridge

Capture Date: Apr 20, 2010 05:01 PMViews: 342

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Self Portrait, Sierra Nevada Brewery

Capture Date: Apr 20, 2010 02:37 PMViews: 340

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My Reflection at the Sierra Nevada Brewery

This is what I saw through the viewfinder of my camera as I pointed the lens toward the window, and focused on one of the curved vats of beer inside the building.
Capture Date: Apr 20, 2010 03:26 PMViews: 343

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Wet Rose at Chico State

A large f/stop - f/2 - ensured a blurred background, which put the emphasis foremost on the color of the rose and the drops of water.
Capture Date: Apr 20, 2010 01:42 PMViews: 343

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