Antelope Valley

California poppy (Eschscholzia californica),
globe gilia (Gilia capitata),
and royal desert lupine? (Lupinus odoratus)

Antelope Valley:
Mojave Desert

Los Angeles County

March 23, 2003

Spring 2003 was quite a stellar poppy season in the Antelope Valley. This visit timed the early bloom on south facing slopes. I have never seen such intense, shocking orange carpets of poppies in all my life. Even in person, my brain refused to believe the neon color could be true. It was difficult to ignore the crowds of tourists that ran through the fields, squashing the flowers...but even still, the display was worth the trip out.

To the right, California poppy and davy (birds eye) gilia (Gilia latiflora ssp. davyi) were found roadside near the Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve.

(Mojave?) pincushion (Chaenactis xantiana), globe gilia, and California poppies. This spectacular hillslope was just off 110th Street near Johnson Summit.

California poppy and globe gilia. The display near Johnson Summit was quite spectacular, benefiting from the early spring heat on this south facing slope. A quick note about digital processing is in order here. Scanning these Fugichrome Provia slides proved to be a more difficult task than usual. The poppies scanned too yellow and the globe gilia too blue. For anyone used to the hue control in Photoshop, this is opposite ends of the spectrum. Hence, after balancing the hue for the poppies as close to the original as possible, I then hand selected each gilia, "feathered" the selection for a smoother appearance, and adjusted the hue.

This last image of the poppies outside the Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve may look over saturated, but incredibly, this image is still less saturated than my original slide!

Homepage

Revised: August 14, 2003