I love spring. The harsh winter is over and flowers start blooming as the temperatures start to rise and the days get longer. Spring is a time to open your windows and let the fresh air in, clean up the yard and prepare for BBQs, hikes and sitting on the deck watching the sunset.
Here in California the first signs of spring we get are the mustard blooming on the sides of the roads and the cherry and almond trees blooming with white and pink flowers. The trees only bloom for a week or two then the blossoms fall away. My friend and I have been trying to get some photos of these trees in bloom in an orchard for a few years now. Unlike a lot of the instagramers that are wandering onto private property, we stay off the private lands, park legally and take photos from the public streets. This is easy to do and we just can’t see why so many people feel the need to be IN the fields. If you are skilled there are tricks you can do with the camera to make it look like you are in the fields when you are not. you just need a little prep work or work after on the computer. It really isn’t that hard. We have yet to make it to the orchards. As soon as we see the trees are in bloom we plan a day to go on the weekend and the blooms are gone and the trees look sad.
This year the trees bloomed and the day after the bloom started I went on small hikes before work for a few days to take photos of the flowers saving the weekend to go out with her and photograph the orchards in bloom! So we get up early. We have researched three areas to go take photos. All the trees looked so sad having lost half their blooms by the weekend. two days later there was a big windstorm now all the trees are bare again. I am so glad I went on those hikes. Now I just have to wait a few more weeks to go see all the wildflowers on the hills.