My Homepage Spring Slideshow
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California's Super bloom that year was one of the best in recent decades. Thanks to an unusually rainy year in California, almost the entire state was blooming with dozens of species of ephemeral native spring wildflowers. Parts of the normally arid Southern California landscape experienced an incredibile super bloom, a once in a ten-year occurrence. Few sites are more memorable than seeing with your eyes brilliant colors and smelling the fragrant fields of California poppies and canterbury bells stretching for miles across the green verdant hills. The cumulous clouds were rolling across the landscape making for the perfect picture.
The best view in Malibu in my opinion is out at Point Dune. When I heard there was going to be a good sunset I went out to one of my favorite local spot. It was even better when I heard the yellow coresposis were in bloom. Of course this would be the perfect location as I attempted to capture the sunset. And sure enough the light went wild as the sky went alaze with color and by far one of the best sunsets I've witnessed. We had the best view in Malibu with the Malibu coastline framed by some coresposis and and sunset light. I still can't believe
Chino Hills State Park Wildflowers
I had heard that the blooms were pretty impressive in Chino Hills State Park, so I set out to find out myself how good the wildflowers were. To my surprise, the wildflowers were at their peak. As we hiked up and along the ridge, you could see fields of orange and purple off in the distance and then upon closer inspection there were myriads of wildflowers mixed in with the green grass. The Chino Hill State Park wildflowers didn't look very promising until you get deeper into the park. Over every hill you’d find more and more color. Seriously I couldn’t stop taking pictures of this place!
Sunset at El Matador Beach is my favorite locations to photograph sunsets in Malibu. El Matador Beach is unique and looks more like something from the Oregon Coast that California. After a long weekend, I was debating whether to shoot sunset. I just wanted to go home and take a nap but I couldn't help but stare at the clouds. This potentially could be a decent sunset or it could be a bust. I consulted with my buddy and he looked it up and said it was a 50% change of a burn. A 50% chance is a 50% chance! So I picked up my friend and headed out for sunset at El Matador Beach. Sure enough the sky lite up on fire as I was running around trying to photograph this incredible sunset. Love it when that happens!
Southern California Wildflowers
The wildflowers in Southern California that year were surprising good. With the amount of rain and temperatures, one local spot blossomed with purple lupine. That's pretty rare for Southern California and seems to happen every ten years. Upon discovering this spot, I want to capture it with hopefully some good light. It was one of those episodes when it was cloudy and I wasn't sure if the sunset was going to pop. The rim of the clouds started to light up. I grabbed my gear and rushed on the fwy weaving in and out of traffic, getting to the park, crossing the creek and trying to climb up the hill panting like crazy as the light was glowing. I found my spot and shot away dying of breath photographing as much as I could of the wildflowers. Not bad for Southern California!
The Columbia Hills wildflowers was a highlight from my trip. The Columbia Hills Wildflowers are at their peak early spring and definitely worth photographing. As we approached the mountains, you could see fields of color off in the distance and then upon closer inspection there were myriads of wildflowers. The Columbia Hills wildflowers doesn't look very promising until you get a closer look. Over every hill you’d find more. I was happy to find a bouquet of arrowleaf balsamroot and some lupine. Seriously I couldn’t stop taking pictures of this place!
That afternoon I drove to Corona Del Mar for sunset. With the 100 degree temperatures we've been having in Southern California I though it was a good time to take a Sunday drive and head for the beach. I ended up at a place I've been wanting to photograph for some time and that was Corona Del Mar. The last time I was here I was scuba diving and lost my keys but that's another story. Anyways I can't believe how nice it is down there and especially the coast. I made my way down to the beach and found a great dinosaur looking rock with some splashing waves. The tide was pretty high so that kept me against the cliff trying to stay dry. The sunset was amazing and lasted for a good amount of time that I lost track. Arguably Corona Del Mar in one of Orange Counties premier locations for photography and shooting sunset. What a great end of the weekend!
The Death Valley superbloom in 2019 was incredible. The wildflower "super-bloom" is rare event for Death Valley that only occurs only when the precipitation, temperature and duration are perfect. Death Valley is famous for its spectacular, spring wildflower displays, but those are the exception, not the rule. Under perfect conditions does the normally arid desert land comes to life with a field of gold, purple, pink or white flowers. Although there are years where blossoms are few, they are never totally absent. I couldn't help but return to the same dunes in search for this prolific field of pink verbena that was mysterious hidden. I ended up going to Death Valley three times to check out the superbloom that year. The Death Valley Superbloom didn't disappoint!