Walker Canyon California Poppies

lynnesitelynnesite Registered Users Posts: 747 Major grins
edited January 31, 2005 in Wildlife
Where-the-hell is Walker Canyon? Well, it's NOT in the Antelope Poppy Preserve. Within 100 miles of it though--south of Corona in the Temescal Valley. It was completely burnt in last spring's fire, in fact it burned east from there clear to where I live (10 miles further), 16,000 acres total. With the El Nino rains, the wildflowers are super early. Saw the first lupine today. Anyway, enjoy, and remember today's waving grasses and flowers are the summer's tinder for nutcases like the guy who dragged a found steel plate home on the asphalt and triggered our fire...but I digress.

The poppies are close to the canyon's entrance, I-15, off on Lake Street, go east to singletrack cliffy dirt road, and follow it as far as you feel like. Much of it is power right of way, major 80KV lines you can hear buzzing (but don't wreck your shots). All shot with the 20D and 70-200 IS, took the monopod but didn't use it. It was a spur of the moment shoot when a fellow member of the LA Canon dSLR users group came a' calling, and he's a landscape stock shooter. He had delicious L lenses to sample but we were pretty late in the day and the poppies close up under less than full sun. We might shoot there next weekend.

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Comments

  • fishfish Registered Users Posts: 2,950 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    clap.gif







    no horses?
    "Consulting the rules of composition before taking a photograph, is like consulting the laws of gravity before going for a walk." - Edward Weston
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  • ShakeyShakey Registered Users Posts: 1,004 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    So much color it reminds me of Ishihara's test.clap.gifclap.gifthumb.gif Nice shots!

    Tim
  • NirNir Registered Users Posts: 1,400 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    Beautiful set! Is this January?
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  • gubbsgubbs Registered Users Posts: 3,166 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    What a beautiful place and pictures! Fantastic colours clap.gif
  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    gubbs wrote:
    What a beautiful place and pictures! Fantastic colours clap.gif

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  • DavidTODavidTO Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 19,160 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    Lynne, very nice set. Guess you won't be shooting the poppies in the magic hour. I can see why you were saying that they pose special challenges. Very nice shots.
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  • lynnesitelynnesite Registered Users Posts: 747 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    DavidTO wrote:
    Lynne, very nice set. Guess you won't be shooting the poppies in the magic hour. I can see why you were saying that they pose special challenges. Very nice shots.

    It is so hard to believe that it is January, the torrential rains sure haven't harmed all of those slopes, no evidence of mud or rock slides there. Talk about "Share the Trails", there were hikers, other photogs, some ATV riders, skeet shooters, every type of trail user but horses. I'm going to check my map to see how to get to that road from here, so I can ride there. This will probably be a fantastic year for desert wildflowers, too. Might just have to pick up a macro lens after all.

    Glad you guys enjoyed the shots, we went below because of strong winds here. It's not *quite* perfect here, more wind today, but I'm not complaining!
  • DeeDee Registered Users Posts: 2,981 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    Wow, you're lucky
    lynnesite wrote:
    It is so hard to believe that it is January, the torrential rains sure haven't harmed all of those slopes, no evidence of mud or rock slides there. Talk about "Share the Trails", there were hikers, other photogs, some ATV riders, skeet shooters, every type of trail user but horses. I'm going to check my map to see how to get to that road from here, so I can ride there. This will probably be a fantastic year for desert wildflowers, too. Might just have to pick up a macro lens after all.

    Glad you guys enjoyed the shots, we went below because of strong winds here. It's not *quite* perfect here, more wind today, but I'm not complaining!

    I'm in the San Francisco Bay area, and as far as I know we don't have anything like that within two hours drive. That must be spectacular to see. We have clumps of poppies and little stretches of them roadside if one knows where to go, but not masses of them like that.

    I often wondered where those stock photos came from of those poppies... as elusive as the fields of sunflowers I've been trying to track down.

    Thanks for sharing these, and I hope you post more.
  • Tim KirkwoodTim Kirkwood Registered Users Posts: 900 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    Very Nice!!!!!!!!!clap.gif
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  • maczippymaczippy Registered Users Posts: 597 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    Lovely!!

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  • aero-nutaero-nut Registered Users Posts: 693 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    Awsome! I live fairly close to the Mojave Poppy Reserve, so I'm hoping we have even close to what you have captured.
  • ginger_55ginger_55 Registered Users Posts: 8,416 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    gorgeous, Lynn!clap.gif

    ginger
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