Post Archive by Year

Yesterday's sunrise, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

This was our final sunrise in Anza-Borrego – we made the long drive to Arizona.  So, I thought I would offer one final update on the desert wildflower conditions.

The wildflowers are definitely running late this year – experts in the local newspaper are saying they are at least two weeks late, and cold weather this week won’t help.  In 2005, there were poppies all over the hills near Lake Elsinore, and wildflowers throughout Anza-Borrego and the Southern end of Joshua Tree by the last week of February.  Even in 2008, by the first week of March there were many flowers in Borrego, Southern Joshua Tree and thick poppies around Escondido.  This year I haven’t seen or heard of very many poppies yet, and there isn’t anything happening in the Sonora region of Joshua Tree.   Anza-Borrego is hit and miss, but there is plenty of potential and many photo opportunities.  I read somewhere that 50 different species are blooming right now in Hellhole Canyon, a dream for macro photographers and pedal peepers, but I will stick to the big bold wildflowers favored by landscape photographers.  Here are those hits and misses:

Hits

Without a doubt this is the year for the beautiful  Desert Lily – Far better then even 2005!  I’m usually excited to find a few – this year I have found fields of hundreds.  And the plants have more blooms then I’m used to seeing as well.  These should get better in the week or two to come.

In many areas, Lupine and Hummingbird Bush (Chuparosa) are also looking as good as they did in 2005.  The Chuparosa are particularly vibrant- rich red leaves with bright red blooms.

Barrel cactus also seems to be blooming early and looking as good as I can remember.

Misses

Brittlebush.  You can usually count on this bright wildflower and it is starting to appear, but not in big numbers.  This could still change.

Sand Verbena and Evening Dune Primrose.  There were a few nice patches of these popular wildflowers early on, but they are starting to show some wear and tear and recent winds won’t help.  The mustard has over taken much of their habituate, but even some of my favorite, more remote dunes that aren’t effected by the mustard are lacking blooms.

Desert Gold.  It was starting to emerge amongst the mustard along the famous Henderson Canyon Road, but the mustard is getting so tall, I think it may be a losing battle.

The weather forecast was for much warmer weather next week – that could be the boast the area needed – as long as it doesn’t get too hot!

Hopefully tomorrow I can share my observations for Arizona.

Rainbow, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, California.

The 40 plus mile per hour winds were blowing sand and water this morning, but the reward was this brief rainbow!

This was at 1/6 of a second @ f/16 and ISO 320.  I used a Canon 1Ds III and 24-105 at 28 with a two stop hard edge graduated neutral density filter at the sun-line.

This is the second photo workshop group.  I suppose the warm jackets, rain shells and umbrellas give you some insight on our weather.  In a word, it was terrible!  Lots of dark gray weather in which we never saw the sun.  Sunday was even worse, it rained non-stop from sunrise to the end of the tour – that hardly ever happens out here in the desert!

This weather could have been a disaster, but fortunately, I was accompanied by a wonderful group of passionate photographers who never let the weather effect them.  I never heard a single complaint!   They got wet, dirty and muddy but everyone just kept going – they were awesome!   We spent some time inside working with Photoshop, but spent most of the time outside as we talked and worked on compositions, exposure and a whole bunch of other stuff.

Dealing with weather is just part of being an outdoor photographer, but this was such a great group that I felt like they “deserved” some great light, even if it was just a sunrise.  But, I know it doesn’t work that way.  Fortunately, they brought their own light thanks to their great attitudes, and I sure enjoyed spending time with everyone.

Barrel Cactus, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

This over-achieving Barrel Cactus was ringed with over 30 blooms and buds!  It will be one of many stops on today’s photo workshop / tour.

Wildflowers, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

After yesterday’s gloomy post, I thought I would post something a little brighter!  In 2005 I arrived here near the end of February and missed the peak wildflowers.  This year, they are just now getting good.  The yellow flowers (Brittlebush) you see here are just now starting to come into bloom in a few places.  On the other hand, it has been a great year for Chuparosa (aka hummingbird-bush) – the red plant you see here.   Together, the two make a great combination!

2008 along Henderson Canyon Road, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, California.

Today along Henderson Canyon Road, Anza Borrego State Park, California.

Sadly, I believe the thick fields of wildflowers that made this area famous are a thing of the past, as this area has been taken over by the invasive species Sahara Mustard.  Two weeks ago, these fields looked so promising, they were  lush and green with new plant life thanks to a rainy winter – historically a perfect combination.  But as I have now learned, the Sahara Mustard grows in sooner and faster then native plants, stealing moisture and blocking sunlight – effectively choking out the beautiful native plants.  You can see in the bottom photo that a couple of Desert Golds managed to fight their way through the thick vegetation, but it is nothing like past years where there would be millions of such blooms.

This isn’t just a problem along Henderson Canyon Road, or Anza-Borrego – the Sahara Mustard has taken over large parts on the lower elevations of Southern California and continues to expand very rapidly.  It seems inevitable that this plant will take over other amazing places like Death Valley – it is really sad.  You can learn more about this invasive species here:  Sahara Mustard.