Sunflowers Are Everywhere

Well, it's that time of year - when sunflowers are in bloom - and for some reason, there seem to be a lot more sunflowers this year than in previous years.

So, I'm going to go with the sunflower theme for at least one more post.

These were taken in a deeply muddy field east of Artois in Glenn County.

Flight over the Glenn-Colusa Canal - Short Video

The same day I shot this video flying above the tops of sunflowers, I also shot a short video with the quadcopter of flying over the Glenn-Colusa Canal and some rice fields in Glenn County.

Amazing Peaches

I had the wonderful opportunity to photograph a peach orchard near Yuba City full of ripe peaches last week.

Let me start by saying that peaches are my favorite fruit, bar none. I look forward to July, August, and September so that I can sink my teeth into juicy, delicious peaches. For me, there's nothing like it.

This particular orchard was full of amazingly ripe fruit, and it took all of my willpower to not grab a peach off a tree and devour it. But I was there to capture the beauty of the fruit, not steal, so as tempted as I was, I didn't touch a thing.

But I did manage to steal a number of wonderful images of peaches on the tree... and I stopped at a fruit stand along Highway 70 on the way back and bought two bags of yellow and white freestones, as well as a few nectarines for my wife.

Almond Orchards in the Summer

My typical almond orchard post comes in February or March and showcases the incredible winter almond bloom that can cover miles of the valley with white flowers. Once the bloom is over, the leaves emerge on the almond trees, and the orchards become drab green tunnels until the leaves unceremoniously fall off in the fall.

But I thought I'd shake things up a bit by posting some images of the orchards as they look in the heart of the summer.

The orchards themselves are fairly difficult to photograph well because the deep shade contrasts so harshly with the bright sun.

But it is possible to get some nice shots of the almonds themselves, which at this time of year are covered with green fuzz.

I will post more as the nuts mature.

Flying over Sunflower fields - Video

While I was taking photos of the sunflower fields near Artois, I also had my Phantom 2 quadcopter out in the field as well. It gives a unique POV to any subject.

Here's a short video of flying over the sunflower fields.

Sunflowers in the Sacramento Valley

It's summer, and besides heat, rice, and tomatoes in the Sacramento Valley, if you look in the right places, it can also mean sunflowers.

Though sunflowers are not a major crop in the Sacramento Valley, if you look around, you can usually find a field or two tucked away in some corner somewhere.

These images were taken in a sunflower field near Artois, in Glenn County.

My next post will include some aerial shots of the sunflower field.

Hi-Res Panorama of the Almond Bloom

Though I don't do it too often, I really enjoy making super high resolution images using Microsoft ICE to stitch images together.

My most recent hi-res image is a 48 image stitch of an almond orchard in bloom in the Sacramento Valley.

A 48 image, 300 megapixel stitched image.

The stitched image is 26,253 x 11,443 pixels, or about 300 megapixels - easily big enough to print mural size.

100% blowup of a small section of the image.

Under the Endless Sky Sneak Peek

The new edition of Under the Endless Sky is at the printers (I should get an advanced copy about the time this post is published), so I thought I'd share a sneak peek at the book.

As previously posted, the book has a new cover; a photo of one of the most amazing sunsets I've ever seen in the Sacramento Valley, taken on the edge of a rice field north of Butte Slough.

In fact, the entire cover spread is new, and instead of being a smaller 8x10 inch format, the book is a much larger hardcover 11x13 format. (Click images to view larger.)

Not everything has changed about the book, however. The opening pages have few major changes and many of the same images.

The most major changes are the addition of new chapters on wildlife and wildflowers...

...and the addition of a number of new two-page spread images.

The book has expanded from 59 to 94 images, includes a map, as well as a list of all the images taken in the back of the book.

This is a special edition book, and will not be widely available. If you are interested in obtaining a copy, please contact me at adunn@adunnphotography.com.

The Annual Almond Bloom

I was down for the count for over a week with something that was more than a cold, but not quite the flu, but I knew that a week-long rain storm was coming that would likely wipe out the almond blossoms if I didn't get out at least once.

So, I dragged myself out of the house on a beautiful Sunday and captured a few nice images of the almond bloom before the rain set in and washed all the flowers away.

Here's a few shots from around Durham.

A view down a long row of blooming almond trees near Durham.

A blooming almond orchard near Durham.

Close up of almond flowers in bloom.

The warm colors of the setting sun are reflected on almond flowers.

The sun sets behind blooming almond flowers.

Under the Endless Sky, Second Edition Map

I've finally finished the new edition of Under the Endless Sky, my book of landscape photography of the Sacramento Valley! Yay! 

In the new edition, I've added a map of where each of the 92 images (edit: I added two extra images after I created this post, so it's really 94) in the book were taken. You get a sneak peek at the map here.

The base map was provided courtesy of the Sacramento River Watershed Program.

When do the Almond Trees Bloom?

I was recently talking to a agricultural finance company about working with them on some images of their farm clients, and they wanted to know when the almond trees in the Sacramento Valley bloom. "Mid- to late-February," was my off-the-cuff response.

But I actually have better data than that. I've been photographing the almond bloom virtually every year since 2002 (see the chart below), and have an extensive library of images - complete with the exact date each image was taken.

Over that decade plus, I have nearly 140 almond bloom images in my library. The earliest I've ever taken a photo of the almond bloom was February 12th (in 2011 - a particularly early year). The latest was on March 8th. Of course, the orchards probably begin to bloom a bit earlier and last a bit later, because I try to shoot at the peak of the bloom.

You can see in the chart below that the peak of the almond bloom typically falls in the last week of February or occasionally in the first week of March.

Wildlife at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge - Part 2

The second day of wildlife photography at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge was a bit different than the first. A strong north wind had kicked in, and I was concerned about what that would do to the birds.

What it did was cause the ducks and geese to form tight groups deep in the reeds, far from prying eyes and difficult to shoot. However, the wind also made them skittish, and entire flocks would suddenly burst into the air when one bird got disturbed.

A flock of snow geese take flight.

With some patience, I was able to get a number of good images of the geese both taking off and landing.

Snow geese come in for a landing.

Overall, the wind had the effect of keeping the birds on the ground. In the case of the geese and most of the ducks, it meant they were far away and hard to see, but for other species, it made them easier to shoot, because they were reluctant to take off. So, overall, the two days balanced out in the opportunities and images they provided.

Mallard couple

Great blue heron

Great egret

Great egret with feather ruffled by the wind.

Wildlife at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge - Part 1

It has become a tradition that in late December or early January I head out to the local wildlife refuges to do a bit of wildlife photography.

This year was no different. The weather has been unseasonably warm, dry and windy, so I didn't have to worry about rain or fog ruining the shoot.

On the first day, winds were calm and wildlife was abundant. Geese, ducks, hawks - all were easily seen and photographed. Missing on this day were the pheasants, herons, and egrets that usually lurk around the edges of the wetlands.

Redtail hawk on the hunt.

Snow goose

Snow goose

A Ross's goose comes in for a landing.

Two snow geese prepare to land.

Late afternoon at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge