Category Archive

Sand Verbena, yesterday in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

These are the first wildflower blooms of the season  in a year that should soon have a bountiful display of flowers!  Don’t rush down here yet, they are still a couple of weeks out – I found this little spot a few years ago, and it is always the first area to bloom around here, and this year is no exception.

This is looking like it will be a great year for wildflowers as this region has seen lots of rain!  The nearby Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area had the wettest month in recorded history this past January.  The local wildflower experts were saying the final ingredient for an excellent wildflower year would be February rains – well we received a fair amount of rain Tuesday night – the second such storm this month.  So in short, it is safe to say this  will be an excellent year for desert wildflowers!  The only thing that could get in the way now would be the over growth of an invasive species like mustard.

Despite the rain and the predictions, I had to see for myself – and of course do a little photography.  🙂  Well things are very green!  Lots of shoots just starting to rise in many places – thick patches of Lupine and Desert Gold were the most obvious, but there is a wide variety of plant-life that just further confirms my anticipation.

I believe the desert wildflower bloom won’t be limited to Anza-Borrego, the hills  North of Palm Springs are also very green.  I went for a run in the back-country East of Joshua Tree and had to deal with a number of small stream crossings – in places I have never seen water flowing before.  It is pretty exciting.

We will be based in Borrego Springs for the next month or so, but I hope to chase the bloom around the area as it progresses, and will provide updates here on the photo blog.  The California Wildflower Hotsheet, along with its corresponding Yahoo forum is another great resource for wildflower updates during a good year like this one.

Finally, this might be a good time to mention that I only have two spots left for my two Anza-Borrego photography workshops. 🙂

This photo:  Canon 1Ds III, 100 macro lens with 25mm extension tube, f/25 at 1/25 a second.

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

I scheduled this in advance as right now we are in the middle of flying and driving between Alaska and Anza-Borrego, our base for the first month of this trip.  After Anza-Borrego we have a few options, but most of them involve Arizona.  I’m hoping it will be a good wildflower year.  It sounds promising!  I will report on the conditions once we are there.

Wildflowers, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

I have been hearing lots of great reports from the Southern California deserts especially Anza-Borrego – the area has received a lot of rain and it is sounding like it could be a good to great wildflower year!  I’m excited, and will start posting updates on the current conditions in Borrego in a couple of weeks.

I prefer the soft, gentle marketing approach and hate to resort to the hard sell car dealer like approach by saying you better sign up now before it’s too late, but – you better sign up now before it’s too late.  🙂  Actually, the second weekend is now full, and I only have a few spots left for the first weekend.  The permitting process will prevent me from offering any more, and will likely prevent other photographers from throwing together last minute tour / workshops.  To learn more, check out:  Anza-Borrego Photo Workshop.

With summer a ways off, there is a little less time urgency with my Alaska Photo Tours, although I only have one spot left for the private boat Kenai Fjords photo tour, and only two spots left for the Bear and Puffin photo tour – and recently, I received a number of inquires on the bear tour.   And space is available for our private boat Prince William Sound tour.

If you have any questions about any of the tours, drop me a quick email, or give me a call.

This commercial break was sponsored by Niebrugge Image, now back to our regularly scheduled blog entries.