Morning Light in Anza-Borrego
Brilliant early morning sunlight reaches a small gathering of flaxflower, sand verbena and a single desert sunflower after the morning fog has cleared. High cirrus clouds introduce another layer of movement into the composition, marking the transition from the muted atmosphere of dawn to the clearer light of the desert morning.
The early morning sunlight became brilliant after the fog cleared. I composed the frame around the flaxflower, sand verbena and a single desert sunflower, then waited for a patch of cirrus clouds to drift into position above the flowers.
This location was only around 400 feet in elevation. These lower desert flowers can bloom much earlier than those in the higher desert, where many landscapes lie between roughly 2,000 and 4,000 feet. That difference in elevation is one reason the Anza-Borrego season can begin while colder desert landscapes are still waiting.