Desert Arroyo and Hills
California

20×24″ prints are $1,500
30×40″ prints are $3,000

This spring, I heard about the exceptional profusion of wildflowers blooming in the hills and deserts of California, due to much above average rainfall. I couldn’t immeadiately take the time off to go south to photograph, due to my necessary work of printing photographs in my darkroom. After a number of weeks, I was finally able to load up the van and head out with Ruth to see what the excitement wasall about.

Once we were in central and southern California, it was more difficult to find the fields of flowers than I expected. It is one thing to see a field of beautiful flowers, still another to try to find a significant photograph. We had heard of the flowers in Death Valley, having never been there, we decided to try out this area.

There were flowers and the desert was quite beautiful but for me, there was not a lot of photographic potential. I have always had a difficult time with dry, dusty locations, much preferring the lush forests throughout North America. For me, the desert offered its biggest potential for photographs at sunrise and sunset, when the angled lighting and warm colors would highlight the neutral, beige colors of the desert. In effect, the desert becomes the screen upon which the glorious light of the sun shimmers and glows.