In the California desert, everything has to fall into place. Rare heavy rains, warm suns, and gentle winds awaken seedlings that have lain dormant for years, transforming a parched, rugged land into a fleeting spectacle of color. Purple Desert Sand Verbena stretch across the sand in a wild, hodgepodge carpet, dotted with golden Desert Sunflowers and Evening Primrose. In a matter of weeks, it all fades, returning the desert to its quiet camouflage of browns and tans. A reminder of the fleeting, stubborn beauty of the American West.

This fleeting moment in time was captured by Discovery Cube Los Angeles' Director of Photography, Chris Pyle. His work spans a wide range of landscapes and frontiers, from traversing the Panama Canal and cave diving in the Yucatan, to hiking the rugged Alaskan backcountry and sailing through the Arctic ice pack. Yet again and again, his lens returns to places like this-where the American landscape opens wide and unguarded. Over many years, he has dedicated himself to filming and photographing these stark, enduring environments and their wildlife, working on assignment with PBS Television and National Geographic. The result is a body of work rooted in exploration and shaped by a distinctly American sense of place, earning him seven Emmy Awards for photography and documentary production.

Desert in Color: The Super Bloom will be framed in a 25 x 14 frame