Photography has taken a bit of a backseat over the past couple of months, but now that it’s spring, the camera has been dusted off and loaded up again. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve traveled around the state looking for wildflowers. And, lo and behold, I’ve actually found a few.
The first day trip was to Table Mountain, near Oroville, CA. I headed up there on a Monday and had the place almost to myself. The flowers I found were mainly goldfields and lupine, but there were a few poppies sprinkled in amongst the rocks. Luckily, I had some cirrus clouds to work with too.
The second trip was a weekend trip down south. After reading the numerous reports on Carol Leigh’s Wildflower Hotsheet, I picked out a few locations and planned a loop. The circuit began in eastern San Luis Obispo county, or about due west of Bakersfield, CA. There were hillsides of yellow coreopsis located along the roadsides throughout the Temblor Range, a row of hills located along the San Andreas Fault.
On Day 2, I checked out a remote area known as Cottonwood Canyon, near the town of New Cuyama in northeastern Santa Barbara county. This area was blanketed with the coreopsis, and also had lupine,
poppies, and cream cups mixed in. The fragrance was amazing, and the weather was nearly perfect.
Later that day, I headed southeast to the Antelope Valley. This high desert region is known for its California poppy bloom, and the blooms were so thick that it turned the desert orange in some places. However, the wind was horrible; it gusted to 40 mph during the afternoon. I packed up the gear and headed to a motel after being fed up with getting sandblasted. Luckily, I used the correct exposures and none of my shots were blurred.
The best images from these excursions can be found at my new California Wildflowers gallery.
