And these are some of our favorite images in our new coffee table book, “Beauty and the Beast: California Wildflowers and Climate Change.”

How our journey began (by Rob Badger)

On a warm and windy spring day in 1992, I witnessed what was then a rare and spectacular wildflower display in the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, a California state park in the western Mojave Desert. I was awestruck by what was before me. During twenty years of photographing the West’s dramatic, iconic landscapes, I had never seen the desert so alive, shimmering with such an explosion of color and life. Experiencing such intense beauty was magnetic, intoxicating, and almost overpowering.

That evening I called home to Nita, my sweetie and fellow photographer, and described as best I could how it felt to see the wind move in waves across a vast sea of glowing, orange California poppies and purple bird’s-eye gilia blossoms. Hearing my excitement, she knew she had to see this for herself. Because these flowers would soon disappear in the drying winds and growing desert heat, I quickly returned to San Francisco where Nita was between photo assignments. We immediately drove back to the poppy reserve to enjoy and photograph this unbelievable beauty together. We did not know then that this was the beginning of a lifetime adventure exploring and photographing what we believed to be a limitless world of wildflowers.

Nita and I share an intense desire and commitment to use our work in ways that benefit both nature and humanity. For decades, her photographic projects have celebrated human diversity and helped members of underserved communities feel a much-needed sense of pride. My own work for many years focused on both land conservation and the environmental destruction caused by human activities such as development, logging, and mining. I was becoming discouraged and emotionally burned out by what I witnessed and documented.

Photographing wildflowers opened up a new world for both of us. It allowed us to collaborate in many different ways and brought us closer together as photographers and as partners. Our photography now included both the grand landscape and a variety of ways to capture the world of a single flower. Exploring new areas, developing new skills, and learning more about native plants and where they live consistently brought joy into our lives and really lifted my spirits. Searching for new places and flowers was like a magical treasure hunt, for it seemed that there would always be new wildflowers to discover, photograph, and share.

You can learn more in our new book, “Beauty and the Beast: California Wildflowers and Climate Change,” co-published with the California Native Plant Society.

More info: wildflowerbook.com | winterbadger.com

Cover of our new award winning coffee table book.

Scarlet Fritillary (Fritillaria recurva) plant with three blossoms, and rufous hummingbird, Upper Table Rocks, southern Oregon (also found in California)

Cobweb Thistle (Cirsium occidentale) wildflower with dew drops, Mt Tamalpais, Marin County, California

California Poppy and Birds-eye gilia, Pepperwood Preserve, Sonoma County, California

Leopard Lily white background, Mount Tamalpais State Park, Marin County, California

Snow plant (Sarcodes sanguinea), Plumas National Forest, Plumas County, May

Canterbury Bells (Phacelia campanularia) and Desert Monkeyflower (Mimulus bigelovii) in desert wash during a “100 Year Bloom” in Joshua Tree National Park, California

Poppies and wildflowers on hillside, Hungry Valley Vehicular State Park, Super Bloom, Tehachapi Mountains, California

Large Flowered Linanthus (Linanthus grandiflora), Contact Series, Point Reyes National Seashore, California

Giant Red Paintbrush (Castilleja miniata) wildflower blossoms, “Contact” series, Inyo National Forest, Sierra Nevada Mountains, California

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Set up of natural light studio and Datura wildflower, Joshua Tree National Park, California

Datura (Datura wrightii), Wrapped Series, Joshua Tree National Park, California

Douglas Iris, Wrapped Series, Ring Mountain Open Space Preserve, Corte Madera, California

2 page spread: Lake deposits and Desert Gold wildflowers, Death Valley National Park, California

2 page spread: California Poppy, Lupine and Desert Goldfields, San Bernadino Mountains, Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, California

2 page spread: Desert Candle (Caulanthus inflatus), Tansy Phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia), Hillside Daisy (Mono Lanceolat) 2017 “Super Bloom,” Carrizo Plain National Monument, California

2 page spread: Wildflowers after wildfire, Butts Canyon Road, Lake County, California

2 page spread: Common Harebells, Mt Rainier National Park, Washington (also found in California)

Wind poppy (Papaver heterophyllum), Caliente Range near Carrizo Plain National Monument, San Luis Obispo County, April

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