Flowers of the Storm
An intensely localized bloom of California poppies, goldfields and gray rabbitbrush remains luminous beneath an increasingly dramatic storm sky. Along the distant horizon, an unusual low band of rolling cloud forms just above the mountains, its rising and falling contours appearing to mirror the range below. Above it, darker storm clouds spread across the sky, creating a layered landscape of flowers, mountains and approaching weather.
A few days earlier, I had photographed this same isolated bloom beneath a clear, cold and windy sky. On this return, the weather was changing quickly and the landscape became increasingly dramatic as clouds spread across the valley.
What caught my attention was an unusual rolling band of cloud forming directly above the distant mountains. Its contours seemed almost to follow the mountain range below, while darker and more ominous clouds continued building overhead. Beneath all of this, the goldfields, California poppies and gray rabbitbrush remained remarkably bright.
The flowers had originally brought me to this isolated location, but the changing weather created something completely unexpected. For a brief period, flowers, mountains and the rolling storm clouds came together as a single landscape. Flowers of the Storm became the natural description for what was unfolding in front of the camera.