Fotos

After spending a day photographing the desert wildflowers, ironically it turns out the picture that came to life the best was this one of the clouds. The clouds were so low to the hills that it looked like the shadows and clouds would converge to touch, a real 3D effect. The way they cast shadows reminded me of a child making shadow puppets.

Green hills and wildflowers in the Anzo Borrego desert northeast of San Diego--you can only find that in the late winter when a little bit of rain falls. There's just a 2 or 3 week window when the wildflowers come to life, usually in March, but it depends on the weather and the elevation of the different deserts. Some years are spectacular for wildflowers (when there's lots of rainfall), while other years aren't so great. The various parks update their web sites with projected peak viewing times, kind of like the forecasts in the northeastern and midwestern U.S. for the best viewing times for trees changing colors in October.