Family Portrait
August 12, 2025
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While out on a recent morning walk, I spotted this delightful scene of a mother ground squirrel and her four curious pups perched on a log. Often dismissed as common or pesky, California ground squirrels are surprisingly complex creatures. They live in social colonies, use alarm calls to warn each other of danger, and even perform a “tail-waving” d...
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Photographing the Unexpected
August 07, 2025
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Hidden Gems: Photographing the Unexpected Landscape
Text and photos by Heather Cline
Round shaped concretions, Bowling Ball Beach
Not all beauty is lush, green, or symmetrical. Some of Earth’s most captivating scenes are born from volcanic fury, ancient decay, or mineral mystery. Geothermal basins, salt flats, petrified forests, and hoodoo...
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Mono’s Morning Monoliths
August 05, 2025
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The South Tufas at Mono Lake take on an unearthly quality at sunrise, their limestone spires glowing in soft hues of peach and gold. As the first light spills across the still water, the formations cast perfect mirrored reflections. Photographing them at this hour allows for stillness—in both the air and lack of human presence. The low angle of lig...
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Do you have GAS?
July 31, 2025
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GAS: A Real Photographic Illness
Text and photos by Heather Cline
On a recent photography workshop, a fellow photographer was telling me about a speech he had given on GAS. It had me laughing out loud and I immediately confessed to him that I would be stealing the idea for a photography blog. So - credit for this blog goes to Ken Cawley!
Gear...
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The Tabby’s Untamed Twin
July 29, 2025
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You might look at this photo and think it's a domestic cat but beneath those familiar feline features lies an entirely different type of cat. This is no couch companion, it's a bobcat. While domestic cats are social, adaptable and often affectionate, bobcats are solitary hunters, shaped by rugged terrain and silence. They thrive in various environm...
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Dam Good Engineers: The American Beaver
July 24, 2025
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Dam Good Engineers: The American Beaver
Text and photos by Heather Cline
They may be elusive and quiet, but beavers are anything but ordinary. As natural engineers and keystone species, their presence sparks a cascade of benefits—from creating lush wetlands to offering refuge for fish, frogs, bats, birds, and mammals. Their dams don’t just hold...
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Fly-By Feeding: Breakfast In Nest
July 22, 2025
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This is a western bluebird bringing breakfast to two chicks shortly after sunrise. These birds nest from February to late July and may have multiple broods per season. They are cooperative breeders, meaning that sometimes older siblings or unrelated birds help feed and protect the chicks. They can’t dig their own nest holes, so they rely on abandon...
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Wild Still Exists: Capturing the beauty of horses
July 17, 2025
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Wild Still Exists: Capturing the beauty of horses
Text and photos by Heather Cline
Stallions 'boxing' - attributed to dominance displays, territorial defense, mating competition, and social sparring
Photographing wild horses involves more than documenting a subject — it includes the landscape they call home and stories they convey. Whether y...
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Sculpted in Sunshine
July 15, 2025
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Early morning and late afternoon light doesn’t just illuminate—it sculpts the subjects photographers live to capture in a fleeting moment. In midday light, this jackrabbit might go unnoticed but in this hour of rim light, he became outlined in gold! Jackrabbits don't make a habit of sitting still so having one stay motionless long enough in this li...
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Of Pikas and Polars
July 10, 2025
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Of Pikas and Polars: The Ties Between These Two Species
Text and photos by Heather Cline
At first glance, it might seem that two species highlighted here couldn't possibly have anything in common.
Starting with size, the difference between a pika and a polar bear is startling. Pikas are tiny mammals, just slightly larger than a hamster. Polar...
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Motherhood in the meadow
July 08, 2025
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Summer can be a challenging time for photography in the hot Sacramento valley, but one of the highlights are the Black Tail fawns that start to emerge. I look for them every morning and have seen them on almost every walk. Spotting them and getting a clear view for a photo is an entirely different story though. Their moms are pretty smart and keep...
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Tips for Stunning Butterfly Shots
July 03, 2025
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Through the Lens: Tips for Stunning Butterfly Shots
Text and photos by Heather Cline
Delicate, elusive, and brilliant — photographing butterflies is one of nature photography’s most rewarding challenges. Their vivid colors and ever-fluttering wings demand patience, quick reflexes, and a keen eye for light and detail. Whether you're aiming to capt...
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It's Sunflower Season!
July 01, 2025
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Each summer, in the Central Valley of California, particularly in Yolo County, a transformation takes place. The otherwise nondescript farm fields become a golden sea of sunflowers. From mid-June to mid-July, over 50,000 acres over covered with these blooms, creating a spectacular sight of tall, sun-facing flowers. Most are accessible via rural roa...
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Wildlife Environmental Portraits
June 26, 2025
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Wildlife Environmental Portraits: Featuring wildlife in their environment
Text and photos by Heather Cline
Common Merganser with chicks
When most people think of wildlife photography, they picture tight, zoomed-in shots that highlight every feather or whisker. While those frame-filling portraits can be stunning, there’s more to telling a great...
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I'll grow into these ears
June 24, 2025
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I have been extremely fortunate this spring to observe a family of coyotes with 4 pups in the preserve near my home. It's striking to me how much they are like puppies, jumping, playing and chewing on everything in sight. The one stark difference is their natural fear of humans. I've been watching them for several weeks, so they seem to recognize m...
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