“Death Valley Wildflowers” — Hillsides covered with wildflowers after a wet winter in Death Valley.
We just returned from another visit to Death Valley National Park. Wildflowers are blooming in California’s deserts and the show is far from over. It has been an odd weather year in California, but desert areas received abundant well-timed rainfall that is producing an above average (and perhaps earlier than usual?) wildflower bloom. We saw the potential back in December and scheduled our return to the park accordingly. We were not disappointed.
Is this one of the proverbial “super bloom” years? Few are using that term at the present moment, but it is clearly an above average year. Some areas, like this gravel fan below desert hills, are covered with fields of desert gold flowers. Small flowers are underfoot everywhere. Other locations are green with sprouting plants that will continue to produce new blooms over coming weeks.
“Great Egret Portrait” — A “head shot” of a great egret.
Great egrets are a common sight here in California, from the coastline to inland wetlands and creeks. Their distinctive white plumage makes them stand out in almost any landscape. It doesn’t hurt that they are quite large, too — the largest of several different egret species. I photographed this one at a wetland area in California’s Central Valley on a foggy day that softened the light.
In some ways it is easy to photograph them, but in others it can be tricky. It is a bit easier to fill the frame with an egret since the birds are large. They also tolerate human presence… up to a point. So, it isn’t too hard to photograph them on the ground. Catching them in flight is a different matter. Most often they will be flying away from me, and when they take off they often do so suddenly and without much warning.
“Morning Fog, Autumn Forest” — Morning fog darkens a dense autumn forest.
Sometimes there are photographs in (almost) your own backyard. As much as anyone else, I enjoy traveling to beautiful places to make photographs. But I can’t go to such places all the time, so it is fortunate that there are plenty of interesting things to see close by. In my area that might include the redwoods or the Pacific Ocean… or just a nearby rural area at the right time of year.
I made this photograph along a road that is far from famous. (Perhaps the only people who would know about it are those who pass by on their way to a nearby local park with hiking trails). But around here, in the San Francisco Bay Area, there are lots of little spots where trees grow thickly and where fall colors continue right on into December.
“Winter Fog and Trees” — Thick tule fog in a thicket of trees, Central Valley.
TWinter is the season for migratory birds in California’s Central Valley, and I try to get out there as often as I can. This region is also the site of extraordinary tule fog — frequently thick enough to make driving quite challenging. My ideal day of bird photography In the Valley starts with early morning fog that begins to thin after dawn. But sometimes the fog does not thin.
This was one of those persistently foggy days. I could hear birds around me, but I could rarely see more than a hundred feet or so into the murk, so bird photography was not happening. That’s my signal to revert to landscape photography, and fortunately the fog produces a moody and mysterious effect on the landscape.
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
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