California has always been known for its wide range of environments. You can start your day in the hot mojave desert, have lunch in the snow at big bear and end your evening viewing a beautiful sunset over the pacific ocean. Our group wants to showcase the variety and beauty California has to offer.
The Biomes of California
Deserts
The California region has three main deserts namely the Great Basin Desert, Colorado Desert, and the Mojave Desert. The Mojave Desert is the smallest and driest desert of North America, it is bordered on the northwest by the Tehachapi Mountains and the south by the San Bernardino Mountains and San Gabriel. It also reaches out to the borders of Nevada and Arizona. The Colorado Desert is located between the Transverse Ranges and the Colorado River. Together with the Lower Colorado River Valley deserts, they form the Sonoran Desert.
Forrests
Little known to most Americans, California is home to some of the most incredible forests in the world, particularly those featuring the massive, spectacular ancient coastal redwood trees. Sequoia National Park’s Giant Forest is home to the largest sequoia trees around. The park is filled with massive mountains, deep canyons, and dense, diverse forestry. The Giant Forest is a large grove between forks of the Kaweah River, filled with exceptionally large trees like the General Sherman Tree, the largest living sequoia
Beaches
California State Beaches can be found up and down the coast.The California coastline is 840 miles long, and has more than 420 public beaches. This means there are sandy beaches and rocky beaches, sunny beaches and foggy beaches, crowded beaches and secluded beaches. Buzzy beaches near LA, San Diego, and San Francisco, and mellow beaches far from the urban cacophony.
Snow
The highest peak in the contiguous U.S. is Mount Whitney at 14,505 feet, located within the Sierra Nevada in California. California mountain regions were formed millions of years ago during major geologic movements, though the earth continues to move even inches per day in some parts of California as new mountains slowly form. Several of California's mountain ranges are known for their excellent skiing, but many of the mountains also include summer time water sports such as lake fishing, waterskiing, and boating.
National Parks
Yosemite National Park is in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. It’s famed for its giant, ancient sequoia trees, and for Tunnel View, the iconic vista of towering Bridalveil Fall and the granite cliffs of El Capitan and Half Dome. In Yosemite Village are shops, restaurants, lodging, the Yosemite Museum and the Ansel Adams Gallery, with prints of the photographer’s renowned black-and-white landscapes of the area.
Located in the Salinas Valley is full of cliffs, crags, and caves all formed by a volcano that erupted nearly 23 million years ago. Nature lovers find their happy place trekking to the High Peaks, a volcanic labyrinth of jagged pinnacles and spires that can be seen from miles away.
Joshua Tree National Park is a vast protected area in southern California. It's characterized by rugged rock formations and stark desert landscapes. Named for the region’s twisted, bristled Joshua trees, the park straddles the cactus-dotted Colorado Desert and the Mojave Desert, which is higher and cooler.
Is a majestic place filled with groves of giant sequoia trees that makes you feel smaller than an ant. It is located in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. The park is also home to the General Sherman tree, the largest tree on Earth. That same tree grows in the Giant Forest, which contains five of the ten largest trees in the world.
Lassen Volcanic National Park is in northern California. It's rich in hydrothermal sites like Bumpass Hell, with its acres of bubbling mud pots. The summit of Lassen Peak Volcano offers views over the surrounding wilderness. Nearby, the Devastated Area is littered with lava rocks from its last eruption. A network of trails through forest and around several lakes connects with the Pacific Crest Trail in the north.
Death Valley is a desert valley located in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert bordering the Great Basin Desert. It is one of the hottest places in the world along with deserts in the Middle East.
Point Reyes National Seashore is a vast expanse of protected coastline in Northern California’s Marin County. Beaches here include Wildcat Beach, with the cliffside Alamere Falls. On a rocky headland, the 1870 Point Reyes Lighthouse is a viewpoint for migrating gray whales. The Phillip Burton Wilderness features extensive trails through grassland, firs and pine forest, and up to the peak of Mount Wittenberg.
Redwood National and State Parks are a string of protected forests, beaches and grasslands along Northern California’s coast. Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park has trails through dense old-growth woods. Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park is home to Fern Canyon, with its high, plant-covered walls.
Is made up of five islands along the Santa Barbara channel and their ocean around them. From north to south, the islands are San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Anacapa, and Santa Barbara. These islands are home to over 2,000 plants and animal species. Surprisingly, 150 of those animals and plants are found nowhere else in the world.
THE TEAM
ALANA
GREY
Alana loves to express her creativity through various different artistic mediums, including drawing, editing videos, writing scripts, and creating print or video graphics. Recently, she has been using Adobe After Effects to further enhance the quality of her video work. She is a Multimedia major with an emphasis in High Definition Digital Cinema.
BRENNAN FELKER
Brennan is a Multimedia student with a very strong passion for the entertainment industry. He brings his creative thinking into every piece of work that he does. After he graduates, he hopes to enter the workforce and eventually become a Walt Disney Imagineer. He is a Multimedia major with an emphasis in Graphic Design/Print.
ALEX
WILSON
Born in Denver CO and moving to California at age 12, Alex fell in love with visual effects in movies, which prompted her to intern at 20th Century Fox for two years. After graduation, she is wanting to enter the technological world through a corporate route. She is a Multimedia major with an emphasis in Visual Effects, Motion Graphics & Animation.