The Tehachapi Mountains are located in southern California and spread out for approximately 40 miles throughout Kern County. This mountain range sits between the Mojave Desert to the east / southeast and San Joaquin Valley to the northwest. The lush pastures seen below (and oak trees, unseen in this photo) provide stark contrast to the arid desert just a few miles away, where only a few inches of water fall yearly.
The rolling hills were used heavily as pasture space and much of these pastures were ‘open range’ as the roadsides warned when you crossed over the cattle gates.
On my second trip to the area, it was a mostly cloudy day. This led to mostly unremarkable photos, but a few times the sun peaked out, providing fantastic pinpoint contrast.