I’m a fan of all kinds of landscape photography, and one of my favorites is a picture of hills or mountains receding into the hazy distance, with the colors getting foggier and more washed out the farther away they are. Here’s an example if you don’t know what I’m talking about.

I’ve tried taking pictures like this all my life, but they’re never any good. The photo never captures what the scene looks like in real life. On Saturday I was seduced once again as I was driving out to Silverado Canyon. There they were: our local foothills, receding into the distance. I felt like a bit of a chump, but I stopped and took some pictures. Then some more a mile later. Then some more. And some more. Finally I gave up and headed to the canyon.

When I got home, I was shocked: several of the pictures turned out pretty well. The best of the lot shows eight different shades counting the sky. And it required no manipulation at all except for some exposure compensation (the original was overexposed). I’d like to capture something even better, so I can’t quite check this photo cliche off my bucket list. But I almost can.

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The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

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