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.

Aerial Views of Sunflowers in the Sacramento Valley

My last post showed regular ground-based shots of sunflowers in the Valley. On the same trip, I also used my Phantom quadcopter with GoPro 3+ Black Edition camera to capture some aerial images of the sunflower fields.

The fisheye perspective of the GoPro makes it look like you're well above the flowers, when the reality is that the quadcopter is skimming less than three feet above the golden blooms. 

That can make for some exciting flying, but makes for even more exciting images... like some unique panoramic images like these (click on the images to enlarge).

In my next post, I'll try to put up some HD video of the sunflower fields, taken as the Phantom skimmed above the flower tops.

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.

Lake Oroville from the Air

In the middle of all the family drama in the past couple of months, I was able to take my drone out to Lake Oroville and fly it high above the half empty lake.

The drought has really brought the lake way down.

Lake Oroville from the Air

Small world view of Lake Oroville

I should try to get out to the lake again and get some other angles and perspectives.

Aerial Views of Chico State

More photography using the DJI Phantom drone, this time around the Chico State campus.

I hope to do more flying around campus.

Trinity Hall

Trinity and Kendall Halls

Trinity Hall

Panorama of campus

Panorama of campus

Flying around a Sacramento Valley Vineyard

This vineyard, owned by Sutter Home winery, was a very tempting subject for the DJI Phantom.

I was able to get a wonderful short video of the vineyard, along with some stunning images.

Vineyard panorama

The video is short and actually quite wonderful. I'm getting much better at flying the drone smoothly.