Current Wildflower Conditions, Anza-Borrego
When the TV cameras start showing up to provide morning feeds to news shows, you know it must be a great year for wildflowers in Anza-Borrego, and very near peak. It is both!
The fields along Henderson Canyon Road, and Coyote Canyon beginning at the north end of Digiorgio Road have to be two of the best areas. Both these locations are in Borrego Springs and contain endless fields of wonderful colors. It is an amazing site to see, and unlike anything you would normally see in the desert. The photo below is from Coyote Canyon this a.m.
If I lived anywhere near this wonderful event, I would get on my horse, drive my car, or even ride the neighbor’s broken bike - whatever it took to get down here to experience this fairly rare show before it is too late. It has been three years since it last looked like this, who knows when it may happen again.
Now for the bad news. The weekends are very crowed in this little town, so bring your patience. The other bummer - it looks like a big storm might be hitting this Saturday or Sunday. During the week is the best time to visit, but it is still worth fighting the crowds and weather if you can only come on the weekends.
March 12th, 2008 at 9:26 am
that field of verbena is impressive Ron! I didn’t see anything that good. I wasn’t planning on going again, but this looks really tempting.
March 12th, 2008 at 9:43 am
Did you smile for the news cameras
Looks like an incredible show of color.
March 12th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Oh, how lucky you were to be there. Thanks for this very inspiring photo and post that makes me want to go there right now. Am still amazed at the thought of getting a macro shot like and cover the landscape and mountains also at the same time with a tilt and shift lens. Just have to visit this site often to enjoy pictures and learn a lot also :).
March 12th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Richard, this was a short ways down Digiorgio Road, you may have stopped before this, although a car could get to this spot fairly easy.
Rick - I ran out into the field and jumped up and down, but they still wouldn’t put me on tv.
Not really.
Thanks Elizabeth. On the poppy and recent cactus images, I used a 24mm tilt / shift so that I could get really close to the flowers. Here the flowers didn’t look as nice, so I didn’t want to get as close, but I still used a 45mm tilt / shift since that allowed me to shoot at f/8, and still have everything in focus. I did that because the wind was blowing and I needed the extra shutter speed. Hope that make sense.
Ron
March 12th, 2008 at 11:55 am
you know I did go down the dirt road. But didn’t spend much time there because I went to go meet you for lunch. lol. I forgot to go back.
March 12th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Oh, wow, thanks so much for the helpful information. I really appreciate it that you have time to answer questions of those who are not pros like me but looking into and learning some photography. Thanks so much for sharing a piece of your talent. On the other hand, I do not know if I can afford to get a tilt/shift lens
, but sure something to dream about 
.
March 12th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Hi Ron: thanks for the update. I really can’t stand all the traffic that BS gets during peak wildflower years, but I may have to try and get over to see this. I can’t help myself!
I wrote a post with a recommended 50+ mile driving tour (Amboy to Southern Joshua Tree), and there’s incredible flowers visible from almost every bit of the entire route. Check it out: http://tinyurl.com/2cakpz
March 12th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
Hi Elizabeth,
I’m always happy to help someone with a passion for photography.
Hey Mg,
The crowds are tough to deal with, but it sure is special down here right now. Let me know if you make it this way. thanks for providing the link - that is a great read for anyone interested in seeing this amazing bloom!
March 14th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
You are just knockin them out of the park down there Ron. Superb stuff. Must be nice to hit it at the right time in a perfect year.
March 16th, 2008 at 8:20 am
Thanks Mark! Yeah it has been a treat to catch this place at such a good time!