Carrizo Plain in Full Bloom
During the 2017 Carrizo Plain bloom, an extraordinarily dense wildflower display stretched across the plain beneath a ccloudy early-morning sky. Although Carrizo is often remembered for its immense yellow blooms, a closer view revealed a much broader range of color. Yellow dominated the landscape while purple and lavender flowers, including unusual stands of Byron larkspur, rose throughout the field.
This was the second day of photographing Carrizo Plain. I had car-camped nearby with another photographer after the previous day’s sunny shooting. By morning, a slight frost had formed on the car’s metal surfaces and the sky had turned cloudy. The early light was soft and low in contrast, revealing the extraordinary density of the bloom without harsh shadows. What surprised me most was the variety of color hidden within a landscape that from a distance often reads predominantly as yellow. The stands of Byron larkspur were especially memorable; I had never seen them appearing in a display like this before. Their long stems and lavender blooms moved easily in the breeze, so with a 1 1/2-second exposure I had to watch carefully for still moments before releasing the shutter.