Field of Fiddleneck Flowers. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A field of late-winter California fiddleneck blossoms.

Photographing wildflowers wasn’t really my plan on this outing. I had gone to this place for what would likely be my final chance to photograph migratory birds before they leave California and head north. As it turned out, many of them had already departed, probably only a day or two earlier. There were other birds to photograph, some of which I had overlooked when the huge migratory flocks commanded my attention, but it was clear that the winter bird season was ending.

But something else was starting to happen — the onset of the green season and wildflowers. California’s “winter” seems odd to people who live where winter has a more traditional quality. Here, winter is when the state turns green, transforming from the brown and dry end of autumn to the impossibly green period of March and the start of April. Our “spring” wildflowers begin to appear weeks before the onset of solar spring. The birds were a bit sparse on this morning, but the flowers were erupting.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

California Golden Poppies. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Late-winter California golden poppies in the hills of Santa Clara Valley.

Many California “spring” wildflowers begin to appear near the end of solar winter, at least in the lower elevation areas of the state. Of all of the characteristic blooming harbingers of spring, the California Golden Poppy may be the most recognized and one of the most prolific. I began to see a few individual flowers here and there way back in early February, but on a hike in a local park near the beginning of March we saw that the main bloom was now underway.

There are a lot of ways to photograph this type of flower, but many of them turn out to be a bit trickier than you might expect. That orange color is very intense in the red channel, which means that it is quite easy to blow out the flower details on digital cameras. In addition, the flower likes to open up in full sun — not the easiest light to photograph — and close up during the popular early and late hours. And even a bit of wind can make it difficult to photograph them… during this season that is often windy.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.