Poppies in New Mexico

With over 3" of rain recorded for the first quarter of 2015 the wild flowers in the high desert have come into bloom.  The poppies are always a favorite but so far this year they have been confined to swaths of the San Simon river bed.  One interesting observation is that this year the large swaths of poppies are confined to the east side of the riverbed paralleling the route of the "old road".  Whether this localization represents crop marks defining the route of the old road or just a fortuitous happenstance is unknown but the yellow, orange, and white poppies are certainly spectacular this year.

Looking west across the poppies in the San Simon riverbed

South along the route of the "old road" covered in poppies

Yellow, orange, and white poppies

Poppies, up close and personal

Finally, this image was made several years ago when there was another wet spring with poppies and is a favorite.

A double gradient of poppies.

A Finished Photograph

Since posting this image of the poppies east of the Painted Pony Resort work has continued on the post production processing of the image.  The goal was to create an image that simultaneously reflected the bright colors of the blooming poppies which appear in the spring all along the valley on a background that was monochromatic reflecting the stark high desert of New Mexico with rugged views of the mountains.  By creating a series of layers (some of which were desaturated) and masking both vertically and horizontally it was possible to create the bright color in foreground where the poppies are the largest while grading off into a monochromatic background of the Peloncillo Mountains.  The highest point in the Peloncillo Mountains, Gray Mountain, is the high point on the left side image.

Poppies at the base of the Peloncillo Mountains

Poppies Around Rodeo, New Mexico's most Western Town

Strong winter rains are a sure sign of a beautiful spring crop of wildflowers in the San Simon Valley.  The poppies have been blooming for several weeks, a slowly marching carpet of yellow and orange from south to north down the valley.  Their arrival in Rodeo was noted by several other bloggers (here and here) and just north of Rodeo at the Painted Pony Resort the landscape on the east side of the San Simon River (where water is an option) is now carpeted with poppies in bloom.

The Peloncillo Mountains with poppies

Below is an interactive panorama created in Microsoft's Photosynth.  Multiple images are stitched into one large panorama which can be navigated and zoomed, which creates a "big picture" view of the landscape.