Category Archive

Desert wildflower in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park from February 29, 2008.

I am excited to announce that I will be able to offer my weekend photography workshop in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California again this winter!  Last years workshops were really fun – I’m looking forward to doing them again.  I’m going to keep the format the same, the only change I’m making is the addition of an informal dinner gathering on Saturday night – we did that on the second workshop last winter and it was a great time.

One of the many keys for a good wildflower bloom is rain during the Fall, and much of the desert received a lot of rain in October.  I was surprised as to how green the desert was between Las Vegas and Borrego last week.  But, there are many more factors that go into a good wildflower year, and there really isn’t any way of predicting the bloom – fortunately there are lots of other cool things to see and photograph in Anza-Borreogo, so if there is a good bloom, the wildflowers will just be a bonus.

Last year I didn’t pull this together until January 19th, and yet both weekends sold out.  Since I’m getting this out so much earlier this year and keeping the cost the same, I’m thinking chances are good that they will sell out again – so don’t wait too long, and feel free to call or email with any questions.

The one question I always receive is which weekend is the best?  There is no way of telling.  Last year was very wet and cold and both weekends ended up being too early for peak bloom.  I considered pushing the dates back, but then thought back to the amazing bloom year of 2005, the peak bloom had past by the end of February – so I didn’t want to over react to one cold winter.  2008 was more of an average year – the photo above was captured on February 29th and you can see things were right at peak.  Except for 2006, there are almost always some wildflowers, and like I mentioned before, plenty of other cool things including even a few slot canyons!

For more details on costs, dates etc., check out:  Anza-Borrego Desert Photography workshop.

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

I’m re-posting this from Friday – this was the blog post that was lost when we were hacked.

Basically all is said is that we have now updated our website with new photos from Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in Southern California.  Seeing a rainbow at sunrise is a fairly rare occurrence in this arid region.

Desert Bighorn statues, Borrego Springs, California.

I would like to say that I captured some wonderful interaction between Bighorns in killer light – but, these are just two of the many full sized metal statues that can be found throughout the Borrego Springs area.

Nothing too exciting going on here right now – we are spending a lot of time in the office editing, keywording and adjusting photos from our last trip, like this one.  I will likely share a few more in the days to come.

Ocotillo in bloom two weeks ago in Anza Borrego Desert State Park, California.

Ironically, I did a better job of keeping up with the photo blog while on the road.  Seems like we have been really busy since we have returned home with different business opportunities and general catching up – but, I’m not complaining!

I might not post every week day like I normally do over the next few weeks, but I do have a long list of topics, and a couple of great ask Ron topics, so do stay tuned!

Sunrise this morning in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

Anza-Borrego looks better now then it did a month ago when we left!  Many of the wildflowers have come and gone, but there are still lots of flowers in full-bloom, especially the cactus.  Speaking of cactus, the Ocotillo are now blooming through out the park and look as good as I have ever seen them – they are just brillent red.

We have stopped here just briefly to pack / ship / clean / winterize / and store our trailer and gear and then begin the journey home.   It has been an awesome trip, but it will be nice to be back in Alaska and sleeping in our own bed.  My next post will be Monday – from Alaska!

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.