Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, April 2008

We went up to the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve today. The display was one of the best in years, probably because we have had somewhat more rain this year than in some of the past years. Also our timing in terms of our visit may have been better than in past years. There is a narrow window in April when the poppy blooms are at the their most spectacular.

For a change of pace, I brought along the amazing 70-200L f4 IS. This was probably not the best lens for the situation, maybe a wide would have been better for the landscapes, and a macro better for the close-ups, but I wanted to see what I could do. I was pleased with the results. This lens always delivers incredible sharpness and vibrancy, at least in close-up work. I should have brought a lens hood, but hey, what can you say. It was interesting walking around because there were a lot of people on the trail with much better cameras and lenses, I am really curious to see what kind of results they managed.

There is a selection of favorite photos here:
http://canghuixu.smugmug.com/keyword/4669677-favorite

And the gallery itself is here:
http://canghuixu.smugmug.com/gallery/4669677_rCfoH

The map view worked out really nicely, you can see clearly where on the trail each picture was taken:
http://maps.smugmug.com/?feedType=geoAlbum&Data=4669677_rCfoH

This was my favorite shot of the day:

Enjoy!