Went out to China Camp State Park with Marcia, Dawn, and Stephanie this afternoon. Beautiful day. Cool winds off the bay, warm sun. Nature.

China Camp is nestled between San Pablo Bay and San Rafael. I didn’t know it existed until this morning, looking for a hiking destination somewhere between San Francisco and Petaluma. The terrain was a combination of broad, low-lying marshlands and coastal ridges, providing some nice opportunities to photograph flatness punctuated by lumps.

We rocked it for a good 3 hours, dodging the frequent mountain bikers, and enjoying the bay views.

Before Dawn and Marcia showed up, Stephanie and I took a quick hike up one of the hills to get a better view of the bay. On the way down I took a few pictures of the small wild flowers and grasses, including some California poppies.

Getting close to a bunch I noticed a small red band around the underside of one, and in the spirit of the upskirt photos taken in France, I decided to see if I could do the same on a macro level.

Hot Damn! The instant I saw the result, faintly on the camera’s LCD screen in the full afternoon sun, I could tell that shot was special.