Forever Almond Orchard: Central Valley, California

The bloom is on! In the last few weeks, we've had many fruit orchards in bloom, and I was fortunate enough to capture this one. This is one of many almond orchards in bloom in the Central Valley of California right now. I shot this near the Dunnigan Hills area, north west of Sacramento.

 

California is the world’s largest producer of almonds; about 80% of the global almond supply, exporting to nearly 90 countries. Six thousand growers carefully tend more than 700,000 acres (283,000 hectares) of almond orchards throughout central California (source: CA Almond Board).

 

I jumped out of my truck and headed out into this orchard to catch the last bit of sunlight hitting the tops of the trees, and it was just a great feeling. The grass was freshly mown, and the blossoms were amazing. I also saw a bunch of bee hives that help pollinate these trees.

This is one single image, no HDR treatment.

Canon 5D Mark II

Canon 14-40L @17mm

0.8 second exposure @ F14

Lee soft ND grad .9 & .75 filters

ISO 50

Done