On March 17, the Club organized an impromptu sunrise outing to take advantage of nature’s colorful bounty. We congregated on 38^th Avenue near Washington just as the sun was peeking over the horizon. Perfect for backlit and sidelit photographs.

 

Some of us had been inspired by Nancy Rotenberg’s workshop on macro photography. Close was not close enough. But it was not all about the wildflowers. A caterpillar that had been spotted two days earlier had kindly waited to have its portrait taken from all possible angles. And a nameless beetle was there for the taking.

The quiet of the desert was broken by the hissing of bottles squirting water and glycerine drops. Whatever happened to Nature’s dew? And by the groans of aching muscles in unfamiliar positions as Club members rolled in the sand to capture the ankle-high subjects. Arising from these semi-recumbent postures proved quite a challenge!

Keeping our lenses clean and sand out of our gear proved to be something of a problem. Some of us were still finding sand in our packs and in the joints of our tripods days later. But the flowers were worth it!

These majestic flowers will still be with us for awhile, providing an unparalleled opportunity. Club members can still take advantage of their delicate displays, particularly at sunrise and sunset. So if you have not yet done so, clip on your macro lenses or whatever, and head for the dunes!