During mid- to late-March and continuing into the beginning of April, California can get treated to the super bloom. When I first moved to Southern California, there wasn’t a lot of rain and the super blooms were pretty pathetic. However, more rain last year and this year meant more opportunities to see the super bloom, and it did not disappoint!
Walker Canyon – Lake Elsinore
One of the best places to see the super bloom is Walker Canyon, located near Lake Elsinore. Poppies paint the hillsides orange and attracts thousands of visitors. Since it was getting dark as we arrived, I bumped up the ISO to 2500. Here’s a shot from the car as we were approaching Walker Canyon:
I really like the shot for two reasons. First, the flowers in the foreground are in focus, while the rest is not. Second, when framing the shot I intentionally did not include the top of the hill. To me, this makes the hill look larger since you can’t see the the peak.
The following photograph shows the vibrant purple and orange colors (and a bit of yellow in the background) against the green hills. For this one, I decided to show the peak of the hill. I also kept some people in the shot both for mood and scale.
And here are some poppy flowers before they fully bloom – how pretty!
Flower Fields – Carlsbad
There are several places around Southern California to see the super bloom. The Flower Fields at Carlsbad are over 50 acres and offers some wonderful opportunities to see the vibrant spring colors. Shooting at such a high dynamic range is new for me, and I had to play around with the camera settings a bit to get things right. Pro tip: use a polarizing filter to darken the sky and bring out the flower colors!
Here are a couple of shots showing the different colors of the flowers:
This post is the last post with just Minhan and me, so I thought I’d highlight a couple of last-minute maternity shots. I actually bought a new lens for portrait shots when Beanut arrives and tested it out here. It’s a really fast 45mm prime lens (f/1.8) and it performed beautifully. Shooting at f/1.8 meant letting in a bunch of light and using a fast shutter speed. Part of the reason for this is that I forgot to lower the ISO setting. I didn’t notice it and stopped down my exposure to -1.0EV to compensate. Still, I’m really happy with how it turned out!
One of the problems we have is being able to find other people to help us take photos. I really wanted at least one shot with Minhan so I took a few minutes to plan it out. I framed up the background and took a test shot. With the camera settings dialed in, I asked someone to stand exactly where I was standing and gave a 30sec crash course on how to get the shot. I really like how it turned out! Can’t wait to meet you, Beanut.
No history today! We’re just scrambling to put the final touches on the house to get ready for Beanut’s arrival. Finger’s crossed he’s healthy and comes smoothly when we expect (March 23rd)!
As always, comments, questions, and feedback are welcome!