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Jacqui Foreman

At the end of our fall trip we briefly stopped in Borrego Springs where we cleaned and winterized our trailer before flying home.  Turns out in the campsite next to us was Ron and Jacqui Foreman.  Ron and Jacqui were also from Alaska (Juneau), and were helping to manage the campground while Jacqui, who was a singer / songwriter performed on evenings and weekends at nearby venues such as the wineries in Temecula.  As Alaskans working hard to pursue a dream with an emphasis on lifestyle over financial security – we had a lot in common.

It was good to see them again when we returned to Borrego Springs this winter and to hear about their pursuits.  But it wasn’t until just a couple of weeks ago that Janine and I actually heard Jacqui perform that we really became huge fans – in short, we were blown away!  She is a wonderful guitar player, with an amazing voice and a great collection of original songs.  We have heard her perform a couple of times now and can’t get enough.  I believe one day she will be very successful.

I offered to do some photography for Jacqui in exchange for permission to play her music during future slide shows – that is if I ever put some together.  🙂  Turns out she needed photos, so yesterday we spent a few hours photographing Jacqui.  I gotta admit this was a little outside my normal photography, but I really had fun.  I captured a very wide variety of images, I’m only posting a small sample here.  Go past the jump for two more photos.

By the way, to learn more about Jacqui, check out her website:  Jacqui Foreman.

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A great group! This is at the entrance to an interesting slot canyon. From Left to right is myself, next to me is Greg, in front of him is Bryant, then Bret, Bob and Ramone.

As you may know, last weekend was the first of two sold out photo workshops I’m leading in Anza-Borrego desert State Park.  I gotta admit, when Saturday morning delivered hard wind and heavy rain, I was in a bit of a panic!  Well fortunately the group was a hardy bunch of passionate photographers who never once complained about the cold, wind or rain, and you know what, we were rewarded with some of the most unique conditions I have seen here.  We had god beams, rainbows, fascinating clouds and wonderful defused light, it could hardly have been better!  Then Sunday we had calm wind and sun, the best of both worlds.

We spent a long time in my favorite trail-less mountain canyons where the blooming barrel cactus might have been the highlight of numerous cool subjects.  We also spent time in some small fields of desert wildflowers, visited a dry lake bed with killer mud pattens, visited a dramatic badlands viewpoint and hiked a slot canyon – I can’t believe we covered that much ground in one afternoon and morning.

Anyway, I couldn’t have asked for 5 nicer guys and if they had as much fun as I did then the workshop was a success – I had a blast and wasn’t even photographing!  Thanks guys!

Greg Lato

I did grab a couple of shots of the guys in the field.  Here is one of Greg Lato.  We didn’t see the full moon I was anticipating, but sure had some dramatic skies!

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

Easy to see why these are called Fishhook Cactus!

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

I captured this a couple of hours ago at sunrise.  It was another beautiful morning – the sounds of coyotes and quail a short distance away only enhanced the experience!

Desert Lily, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

This was from sunrise this morning – these are the coolest desert flowers around!

I think recent cold weather has delayed the bloom a bit, it is warmer this week and I hope that spurs more blooming by the weekend.  Brittlebush for example is almost always in bloom by now, but not this year.  But, like fall colors, thing can seemingly change overnight.

Unfortunately, some of the famous roadside fields like the ones along Henderson Canyon Road have been taken over with mustard.  I’m doing a lot of scouting this week and have found some nice little areas, but the windshield drive by flower viewer might be disappointed by this years show despite all the rain – we will know soon!

By the way, I received a nice mention by being included on this list of 50 amazing nature photography blogs.

Desert Agave also known as Century Plant, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

I found and photographed a couple of these beautiful blooming plants this morning – this is a real treat as it takes some 20 to 40 years, if not more, before this plant blooms and then dies.  A new plant then begins to grow from the periphery and the process begins all over.  So as you can imagine, there are very few of these plants in bloom in any given spring – so it is a real treat to find one!  I have located a couple – this one is in Yaqui Pass, the other in San Felipe Canyon.

It was pretty stormy this morning – I like to think of this weather as a high variance photo opportunity, this is especially true in the desert.  What I mean by that is stormy weather greatly increases the chance for amazing light and unique atmospheric conditions, the kind of conditions that can lead to wonderful photo opportunities.  But, bad weather also greatly increases the chance of coming away with nothing!

I was reminded of that today.  At my first stop, the agave in San Felipe Canyon, I was greeted by hard wind and rain and came away with nothing.  On my second stop, I found calm wind and the beautiful defused light you see here.   At one point I even had a brief rainbow!

Golf course at the Springs at Borrego, Borrego Springs, California.

It rained a little last night, but this morning was beautiful!  Great light, and a rare, at least for this area, rainbow!

Farmer's Market, Borrego Springs, California.

With the weekend just about upon us, I know lots of people are looking for an update to the desert wildflower bloom.  Posting a photo of the wonderful Friday Farmer’s Market probably speaks volumes.  🙂

There is a vary wide variety of small wildflowers blooming in this area right now, and “pedal peepers” who are on the hunt for unique and pretty desert wildflowers won’t be disappointed.  The large carpets of wildflowers that have made this area famous, and that are preferred by most photographers haven’t developed yet.   This, coupled with foretasted winds is why I really can’t recommend visiting this weekend.  I found some wonderful fields of Purplemat this morning, so there are opportunities, but I really think next weekend and the following will be far better.  Stayed tuned here for more updates.

Hey speaking of the next two weekends, I have just one spot remaining for the first weekend of my Anza-Borrego desert photo tour / workshop.  The second one is full.