(no subject)
Apr. 20th, 2005 11:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pecuniumI am loathe to use LJ Cuts, mostly because text isn't that big a deal to me, and scrolling happens anyway. But this has a lot of pictures, so I'll cut those, lest I make the reading too hard for those who are on slow connections.
So Maia and I managed, at long last, to go see some wildflowers. We were going to join friends at the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve on Sunday. Satuerday we loaded the truck, unloaded the trailer and limbered it, so we could take it to the trailer store for some service. We were behind our time and the schedule was getting tight, which meant her being pulled over was even less well recieved than usual.
It was a legitimate, but bogus, ticket. When hauling a trailer one is limited to 55 MPH, and the right hand lane; unless passing. She was doing a little faster than speed of traffic, because she was passing. The CHP officer thought she waited too long to pull back to the right (she did, but I'm leery of just popping back to the right, because people do stupid things in the blind spot). But the faster than 55 is crap. Why? Because I've had more than a few semis pass me when I was doing speeds which I'd not bitch (not for the ticket, maybe for the cop padding the call, so he can do me a favor and write me up for less than that, but more than I was doing... but I digress) and I damned near never see them pulled over.
But we got to the trailer place (in Bakersfield) just in time to have the trailer hauled in for the night, so it didn't have to sit out for two days (they being closed on Mondays). And then off to the campground.
Spunky Creek looked good on paper. About 15 miles from the poppy reserve, and with a good review when Maia looked it up. Only she failed to note when the reviewer had been there. It was locked up tight when we found it (after dark).
So she poked around a bit and we figured out why... seems the creek had been more than a trifle spunky and things had been buried. The standard issue concrete picnic tables were bench deep in sand. In the morning we could see trash cans, which live on stands, off the ground. They were buried too.
</table>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
</table>
We also saw campsites which were off the floodplain, but those weren't noteworthy in the dark. Pitched the tent, and built the fire. Hardwood lumber makes a great fire. We have a friend who works at a furniture factory so the potatoes were roasted in coals of mahogany and oak. The smoke was good for the steaks.
Up in the morning and breakfast at a nearby golf course. Not the best, but (barring the coffee) nothing objectionable, and solid fare for the day. Water for the Camelbacks and on to the reserve. This was past the peak, but the hills were still awash in color.
<tr>
<td>
</td>
</tr> </table>
Right at the entrance, a goodly collection of poppies, both the annual and the perrenial (this was my bit of learning for the day. I knew (though Maia disbelieved me) that some Calif. Poppies were perrenial. I figured it was the same way tomatoes can do that. Water them enough and they'd summer over. Nope. They are slightly variant species. I also found out we have badgers in Cailf. I took a few backlit pictures.
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>Backlit
I like this effect</td>
</tr> </table>
It wasn't all flowers. It was, in fact, mostly not flowers, esp. on the front side of the hike. There were lizards, like this one (a Side Blotched Lizard) sunning themselves. He was looking out his front door at all the people going by.
<tr>
<td>
</td>
</tr> </table>
As well as fields of the small daisies. One fellow asked me if this had been a bad year for poppies. I told him that, so far as I'd been told, it was a great year, but the peak was passed a couple of weeks ago. Standing in a field of yellow daisies, green grasses, purple Owl's Clover, some random Chia, mustards and great washes; as if a watercolor artist had taken a brush to the hillsides, he started complaining to his companions about how they had missed it. I think he did.
<tr>
<td>
</td>
</tr> </table>
The poppies in my front yard have it easy. I water them (some are just peeking out of the earth, some are gearing up for yet another round of blooms, while the second batch is still on the stem. I have some 40 plus seed pods growing) and they have little in the way of predators (not so my marigolds, two of them have been eaten to nought but stems). Those out here, well this one was attacked in the bud, and will never have a very good looking blossom. The picture after it shows the probable culprit.
<tr>
<td>
</td>
</tr> </table>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>More backlight
</td>
</tr>
I decided, since so many of the pictures were, fundamentally, alike, to play with this one, trying to keep the color of the poppy, while losing all the other colors. It took a bit of time (I need to sit down with the manual and really learn Photoshop). To get the poppy shade anything like correct also brought back some of the poppy's foliage.
<tr>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>Owl's Clover
A big flower, maybe 3" of blossoms. They are more visible than Lupine, of which there was very little.</td>
</tr>
More than hald the people had cameras, more than a few took pictures of each other taking pictures. Maia and Peggy (at least) in our group, took pictures of me taking pictures. But I tend to be more active than most in getting the angle I want. I didn't see anyone else lying on the ground to get the shot.
<tr>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>Clump of Poppies
</td>
</tr>
There were also some not golden poppies
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>White Poppy?
The buds look more as a classic poppy looks. I only saw the one plant, so I couldn't do a whole lot of comparison.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>End of the Day
On Highway 138, heading home. The sun is down and they are closed.</td>
</tr>
</table>
All told we spent about three hours among the flowers. I saw some Calif. Meadowlarks, and got lots of comments about my camera. A guy from Japan, living here now, wanted to get one, but now mine (the Nikon D2H) is no longer being made, because they've tweaked the hardware, so, if he can find one, it will be afforadable, but he can't. We talked a lot. A couple of other groups (including the one taking pictures of each other) chatted with me about photography.
When the poppies had been seen we headed into Lancaster for the Poppy Festival. That was only worthwhile in the interest of company. Next year we may head back to the poppies, but we'll give the festival a by.
So Maia and I managed, at long last, to go see some wildflowers. We were going to join friends at the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve on Sunday. Satuerday we loaded the truck, unloaded the trailer and limbered it, so we could take it to the trailer store for some service. We were behind our time and the schedule was getting tight, which meant her being pulled over was even less well recieved than usual.
It was a legitimate, but bogus, ticket. When hauling a trailer one is limited to 55 MPH, and the right hand lane; unless passing. She was doing a little faster than speed of traffic, because she was passing. The CHP officer thought she waited too long to pull back to the right (she did, but I'm leery of just popping back to the right, because people do stupid things in the blind spot). But the faster than 55 is crap. Why? Because I've had more than a few semis pass me when I was doing speeds which I'd not bitch (not for the ticket, maybe for the cop padding the call, so he can do me a favor and write me up for less than that, but more than I was doing... but I digress) and I damned near never see them pulled over.
But we got to the trailer place (in Bakersfield) just in time to have the trailer hauled in for the night, so it didn't have to sit out for two days (they being closed on Mondays). And then off to the campground.
Spunky Creek looked good on paper. About 15 miles from the poppy reserve, and with a good review when Maia looked it up. Only she failed to note when the reviewer had been there. It was locked up tight when we found it (after dark).
So she poked around a bit and we figured out why... seems the creek had been more than a trifle spunky and things had been buried. The standard issue concrete picnic tables were bench deep in sand. In the morning we could see trash cans, which live on stands, off the ground. They were buried too.
</table>
<tr>
<td>
</td></table>
We also saw campsites which were off the floodplain, but those weren't noteworthy in the dark. Pitched the tent, and built the fire. Hardwood lumber makes a great fire. We have a friend who works at a furniture factory so the potatoes were roasted in coals of mahogany and oak. The smoke was good for the steaks.
Up in the morning and breakfast at a nearby golf course. Not the best, but (barring the coffee) nothing objectionable, and solid fare for the day. Water for the Camelbacks and on to the reserve. This was past the peak, but the hills were still awash in color.
<tr>
<td>
</td></tr> </table>
Right at the entrance, a goodly collection of poppies, both the annual and the perrenial (this was my bit of learning for the day. I knew (though Maia disbelieved me) that some Calif. Poppies were perrenial. I figured it was the same way tomatoes can do that. Water them enough and they'd summer over. Nope. They are slightly variant species. I also found out we have badgers in Cailf. I took a few backlit pictures.
 |
<tr>
<td>
</td><td>Backlit
I like this effect</td>
</tr> </table>
It wasn't all flowers. It was, in fact, mostly not flowers, esp. on the front side of the hike. There were lizards, like this one (a Side Blotched Lizard) sunning themselves. He was looking out his front door at all the people going by.
<tr>
<td>
</td></tr> </table>
As well as fields of the small daisies. One fellow asked me if this had been a bad year for poppies. I told him that, so far as I'd been told, it was a great year, but the peak was passed a couple of weeks ago. Standing in a field of yellow daisies, green grasses, purple Owl's Clover, some random Chia, mustards and great washes; as if a watercolor artist had taken a brush to the hillsides, he started complaining to his companions about how they had missed it. I think he did.
<tr>
<td>
</td></tr> </table>
The poppies in my front yard have it easy. I water them (some are just peeking out of the earth, some are gearing up for yet another round of blooms, while the second batch is still on the stem. I have some 40 plus seed pods growing) and they have little in the way of predators (not so my marigolds, two of them have been eaten to nought but stems). Those out here, well this one was attacked in the bud, and will never have a very good looking blossom. The picture after it shows the probable culprit.
<tr>
<td>
</td></tr> </table>
<tr>
<td>
</td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td><td>More backlight
</td>
</tr>
I decided, since so many of the pictures were, fundamentally, alike, to play with this one, trying to keep the color of the poppy, while losing all the other colors. It took a bit of time (I need to sit down with the manual and really learn Photoshop). To get the poppy shade anything like correct also brought back some of the poppy's foliage.
<tr>
<td>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td><td>Owl's Clover
A big flower, maybe 3" of blossoms. They are more visible than Lupine, of which there was very little.</td>
</tr>
More than hald the people had cameras, more than a few took pictures of each other taking pictures. Maia and Peggy (at least) in our group, took pictures of me taking pictures. But I tend to be more active than most in getting the angle I want. I didn't see anyone else lying on the ground to get the shot.
<tr>
<td>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td><td>Clump of Poppies
</td>
</tr>
There were also some not golden poppies
<tr>
<td>
</td><td>White Poppy?
The buds look more as a classic poppy looks. I only saw the one plant, so I couldn't do a whole lot of comparison.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td><td>End of the Day
On Highway 138, heading home. The sun is down and they are closed.</td>
</tr>
</table>
All told we spent about three hours among the flowers. I saw some Calif. Meadowlarks, and got lots of comments about my camera. A guy from Japan, living here now, wanted to get one, but now mine (the Nikon D2H) is no longer being made, because they've tweaked the hardware, so, if he can find one, it will be afforadable, but he can't. We talked a lot. A couple of other groups (including the one taking pictures of each other) chatted with me about photography.
When the poppies had been seen we headed into Lancaster for the Poppy Festival. That was only worthwhile in the interest of company. Next year we may head back to the poppies, but we'll give the festival a by.
