I'm not sure where my friend took the photo from... most likely his farm. But it would still be basically SW, or SSW.
Traveling I-5, the way you do, a lot of people think they are traveling pretty much due North... but actually the road is going NW in that area.
When you pass Harris Ranch my home would be darned near due North, almost exactly 27 miles as the crow flies.
I-5 was complete in... oh, maybe '67, '68? Until then the expanse between my home and the Coast Range... (3 Rocks), was nearly empty... not even much farming. From 1 mile SW of my home we could get on our dirt bikes, or in a jeep, and drive cross country through native land all the way to the mountains... crossing only one paved road - Hwy 33.
In those days the pheasant and jackrabbits were 'herds'. Seriously... it was common to drive through some native brush and scare out hundreds of jackrabbits in one group, (I don't know what a group of Jackrabbits are called)... and probably hardest for young people to believe were the number of pheasants. Quite literally as numerous as flocks of blackbirds. Even the occasional deer would wander down into the valley and come somewhat close my home (8-10 miles). Deer only took to the mountains when men pushed them out of the valley...Elk as well... I didn't see those days but my Dad saw the end of those wild days.