Anza-Borrego Photography Workshop

Ron NiebruggeAnza-Borrego, Photos, Travel Leave a Comment

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

I have been doing spring weekend workshops in Anza-Borrego for many years now, and with rain in the forecast, this weekends could be really interesting!

I haven’t mentioned my Anza-Borrego workshops at all this year and I kinda feel bad – when people inquire about signing up Anza-Borrego Photography Workshops, I tell them to keep an eye on Facebook, or my blog for information, as I usually begin to promote it in the late fall.  This year my weekend workshops filled last Summer back when I first put them on my website and emailed prior guests, before I had a chance to even mention them here, so I apologize to those who missed out.  In the future, we are going to add a email sign up list to our website so I can send out notices a couple of times a year of our workshop offerings to everyone at once.

August Bear and Puffin Photo Tour Opening

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Lake Clark, Photos, Travel Leave a Comment

Brown or Grizzly Bear, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.

Brown or Grizzly Bear, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.

My 2014 photo tours have been full for some time, that is until yesterday.  Unfortunately, we have a person who is going to have to cancel thus opening an opportunity to join me on this amazing trip in August!  This photo tour usually fills about a year in advance, so this is a unique opportunity.  Here are the details:  Alaska Bear and Puffin Photo Tour.   Feel free to email or call if you have any questions.

By the way, it may still show as full, but that in only because we are having trouble updating  our website while on the road.

Borrego Springs Sculpture

Ron NiebruggeAnza-Borrego, California, Photos, Travel Leave a Comment

Sculpture, Borrego Springs, California.

Sculpture, Borrego Springs, California.

I spent last night photographing one of the many cool sculptures found around Borrego Springs.  I lit this one with a couple of LED panels.  I tried a red one it its mouth, but not sure if I like that version – a bit over the top, but interesting.

 

Coyote

Ron NiebruggeCalifornia, Photos, Travel Leave a Comment

Coyote-photosI have been hearing coyotes almost every night, and seeing tracks during the day, but I have yet to see one to photograph.   So I thought I would share one from an earlier trip.

Here are some more coyote photos.

Anza-Borrego Slot Canyon

Ron NiebruggeAnza-Borrego, California, Photos, Travel Leave a Comment

Slot Canyon, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

Slot Canyon, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

 

Since the slot canyons around Page, Arizona had changed so much between our June and September visits due to flashing flooding. I figured we better check out the one here in Borrego, since this area experience the same weather.

There are a few more boulders that fell down from above, but none of them block the canyon. And, the cool mud arch is still standing – barely.

 

Common Yellowthroat

Ron NiebruggeAnza-Borrego, California, Photos, Travel 2 Comments

Common Yellowthroat, Borrego Springs, California.

Common Yellowthroat, Borrego Springs, California.

I have been trying for a couple of evenings to get a nice clean image of this beautiful bird, but it likes to stay in the thick reeds watching for bugs to pounce on.  So, I decided to embrace the reeds by including the plants.  🙂   As Janine pointed out, seems like such a beautiful bird shouldn’t have “Common” as part of its name.

2014 Desert Wildflower Outlook

Ron NiebruggeArizona, Photos, Travel 7 Comments

An older photo of wildflowers in Saguaro National Park, near Tucson, Arizona.

An older photo of wildflowers in Saguaro National Park, near Tucson, Arizona.

I have made the trip from Alaska to Anza-Borrego and are now situated comfortably. Part of that trip involved driving from Phoenix to Anza-Borrego in Southern California, a drive that gave me a bit of an over-view of what’s to come.  Here are my thoughts.

I was really excited about the prospects of wildflowers during my visit to Arizona in September.  In Northern Arizona I saw some of the best fields of wildflowers I have seen in the desert in two years – and it was September!  This was due to some heavy rain during the month of August, numerous YouTube videos showed flashing flooding and crazy rainfall from Anza-Borrego, California, to Page, Arizona.  Even now, the water year to date rainfall total for Borrego is way ahead of the last few years.

Fast forward to today – unfortunately, the desert has seen little if any rain since those Augusts storms, and California is experiencing the most extreme drought in modern history.  Because of this, my expectations were extremely low.  I was pleased to see a report on the news when I arrived talking about an early bloom this year.  I was even more surprised to see numerous green areas though out Arizona that showed some good potential for a bloom.  Even more encouraging, there were a two of small areas that were actually already in nice bloom right now!

Both areas were along Highway 8.  The first was at mile 149.  There is actually a nice picnic and parking area on the South side of the highway right at the best spot, which included a thick carpet of yellow flowers amongst the saguaro cactus.    At 70 miles per hour, I couldn’t tell what type of wildflowers, but it was a pretty area.  Another nice area was on a rocky hillside at mile 125 – the hills were spotted with a good collection of blooming Brittlebush.  Between the brittlebush, rocks and cactus, this was another nice area similar to what is pictured above.  There were some nice patches of wildflowers in other areas of Arizona, including lupine, but most of those were limited to the shoulder of the highway, an area that always has some bloom.

Now as I made my way West, things looked worse, and I must admit, it doesn’t look very promising for Anza-Borrego.  There are a few blooms in the washes, but most areas are brown.  Now a nice rainfall could change all this, but the forecast isn’t promising either.  In fact, the whole region is experiencing record high temps which should last for at least a few more days  – the heat won’t do the wildflowers in favors.  If things do change, I’ll let you know!