Carlsbad Flower Fields

So recently I purchased a new lens for my Sony a6000, the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 Contemporary lens. Being a week away from it, I wanted to test it out, play with it, and work on my photography skills with Darlyn. I woke up pretty late this Saturday and had no plans in mind for the day. Initially, I asked her if she wanted to go to Balboa Park, and check out the Japanese Friendship Gardens because their Cherry Blossoms should be blooming. Until I remembered about the Flower Fields out in Carlsbad!

So that is where we went!

The weather was sunny so we figured that we would be able to get great photos with nice lighting. Traffic was a bit heavy getting there, especially entering the parking lot, but we were luckily able to find parking within seconds.

The price of admission into the Carlsbad Flower Fields was $14 per person. A bit pricey in my opinion, but it was a great opportunity to take nice photos. I want to say the fields were a little over 200 yards long? However, the flower rows (if that is the correct term for them) were not as dense of flowers as I thought. And I also thought we would be able to walk through them, but they are taped off with signs saying "please do not cross". They have walk ways for people to walk and small gaps for people to get closer to the flowers. In the photos, you have to get eye level with the flowers or step a couple feet back to have the "thickened" effect of the flowers. But, the deeper you go into the fields the more dense the rows got.

Darlyn and I are still trying to get comfortable with taking pictures of each other. We have been together for over 8 years, but seeing the other through the lens of a camera, looking for a moment to capture, is different.

For me, I like the natural candid look, but sometimes I like to ask her if she can do something so that I can take the picture.

So I saw a little girl smelling the flowers, and I thought, what a great idea for a shot! After many attempts, we got the right shot! Lol, that's part of photography, I guess. You take many shots to until you get the perfect one. But with practice, my accuracy should improve.

This has to be one of my favorite photos of the day. We have a background of an endless sea of flowers, and a nice big blue sky above us! This photo was actually taken by a couple who just got engaged that very day! Congrats!

These two photos above were Darlyn's idea and they turned out great! I was experimenting with the aperture, and found out shooting wide open was best looking for me. So this shot was taken from above at an angle, as you can see. I'm almost a foot taller than Darlyn, so this shot was easy for me to take but it was not easy for her. I had to squat half way to get a good angle to capture the flowers behind and to make it look like I am still standing. It hurt... but at least the photos turned out great!

I also tried to work on my nature photography while I was there. The 30mm helps a lot with the bokeh. Not the best photo, but I hope to improve as I practice. I just need to obtain that "feel" for certain types of shots.

So all in all, we had a great time at the Carlsbad Flower Fields! We got some great photos and learned a lot along the way. We are definitely coming back next year to take more photos and see how far we progressed in our photography skills!

I have uploaded more pictures of this day in the gallery, so feel free to view them!

Until our next adventure...

#carlsbad #flower #flowerfields #sony #sigma30mm