Panorama: Mesa Grande, California

"Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography."

-George Eastman

Panorama: any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film/video, or a three-dimensional model.


Click on the photo below for a larger version of the pano. Due to its rather large size, the panorama may be slow in loading. Be patient: it won't take that long.

Made from seven separate photos, and stitched together in software to create this pano. Click on the photo above and it will expand into a larger photo that one can scroll back and forth, up and down.

After spending a better part of the day chasing down fall color last November up and around the little town of Julian, California, I decided to get adventurous and take a road never traveled before to get home. Boy, I'm glad I did! The area is between Julian and Lake Henshaw, bordered by Hwy. 76 on one side and Hwy. 78 on the other.

Mesa Grande (not to be confused with Mesa Grande, Arizona) is a moderately elevated mesa, peppered with Coast Live Oak and Engelmann Oak trees. It is very reminiscent of the the large oak valleys that one passes through while driving in parts of the California Central Valley.

Studded with meadows, ranches, and farms, Mesa Grande will transport one to places seemingly way far, far away from the rat race called SoCal. While taking a leisurely drive along its graceful, winding road, I saw many examples of gorgeous and mature oak tree specimens, plus quite a few wild turkeys doing their turkey thing. This would be a good road to experience in a convertible auto with its top rolled down!

While threading my way through one particular bend in the road, I came upon this wonderful little pasture studded with oaks, a windmill and some cattle. The fall color was terrible around Julian, but I was rewarded with this pastoral scene coming home because I decided to take the road less traveled that day.