The coming of spring brings with it the blossoming of flowers which is the latest subject of the Readers Photo Challenge. Remember, this is a photography challenge, not just a one about flowers. Just because a flower is pretty, it doesn’t mean that it will automatically make a good picture. How you approach your subject […]
Spring is the season of wildflowers and the El Nino rains that we’ve gotten seem to have caused an explosion in the growth of wildflowers. There are reports of a “super bloom” in the usually barren Death Valley. A few weeks ago reader Pete Silva of Jackson sent me pictures a of beautiful poppies growing […]
8/10/2011: Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center environmental associate Julia Stephens sits on a rock in a field of checker bloom growing near Barn Meadow.
One person’s weed is another person’s wildflower. I have a perennial battle with bindweed. Part of the morning glory family it has half dollar-sized white blossoms and crawls along the ground in vine-like fashion. In my backyard, where it likely came in as a hitchhiker on my dog after a walk, it snakes through the […]
There are just two of days left for the Readers Challenge wildflower assignment. While Saturday’s forecast calls for partly cloudy skies, there’s a chance of rain on Sunday. But don’t let that deter you because a little wet weather can be a boon for photographs of wildflowers. A light sprinkling of rain can add a […]
There’s less than a week left in the Readers Photo Challenge assignment: Wildflowers. You don’t have to travel far out into the country to get a shot. There are many places within or close to city limits that you can go to find flowers growing in the wild. I got this shot of a milk […]
I recently took a walk near the Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge near Elk Grove. Perhaps it’s due to the drought and spring rains that have only come recently, but it seems that some of the wildflowers are a bit late and are just now starting to bloom. I saw emerging lavender carpets of long-beaked […]
My son went on his scout troop’s annual weekend outing trip to the Bodega Dunes campground in Bodega Bay. Though he had a ride there on Friday afternoon, I was to pick him up and ferry two other scouts back home on Sunday morning. I thought it would be a nice opportunity for photos, so […]
Even with all the schooling, experience, talent and skill in the world, sometimes it just comes down to luck to get a shot. But as Louis Pasteur is credited to have said: “chance favors the prepared mind.” I’ve been the recipient of luck many times in the past and I try to be ready for […]
One person’s trash is another person’s treasure, the saying goes. In that same vein, what one would think of as a weed could be considered a wildflower by others. When you travel into the rural parts of the city and county, wild plants can be seen alongside the roads and freeways as well as orchard […]