A photographer has captured the Californian landscape bathed in a vibrant sea of colour after millions of wildflowers burst into life in the best "super bloom" for six years.

Dr Elliot McGucken has spent the last month capturing images of the rare desert botanical phenomenon, which creates incredible floral displays that are so impressive they appear more like a painting.

The carpets of multi-coloured flowers can even be seen from space, but only when perfect growing conditions allow the native plants to bloom in grasslands and deserts at the same time.

Elliot carefully studied weather forecasts and maps to ensure he picked the right time to capture the peak of the super bloom, before the yellow, red, orange and purple flowers lose their petals and shrivel up when temperatures rise in the coming weeks.

He said: "It is definitely the best super bloom in six years. It won't be long before the warmer temperatures wipe out all of the flowers. I got there just at the right time and I'm really happy with the results - it's a magical experience during a super bloom.

“You can go there and then a day later the petals will be falling off and the flowers will have dried out. I have to watch the weather very carefully.

“I'm 75 per cent weatherman and 25 per cent photographer."

A super bloom occurs when wildflower seeds, which have laid dormant in desert soil, start germinating at the same time.

Heavy rainfall during the winter, followed by warm temperatures and sunshine in the spring creates the perfect growing conditions, but the desert must remain dry enough in the weeks before so that weeds don’t suck up the moisture the flowers require to bloom.

The phenomenon attracts flocks of visitors each time it occurs, leading to areas of California including Death Valley and The Carrizo Plain to be referred to as the ‘Meccas’ of the super bloom.

In Elliot’s breathtakingly colourful images, purple lupine, red and orange poppies and multi-coloured wildflowers create dazzling natural displays that stretch for miles.

Every year Elliot, from Los Angeles, California, chases the super bloom across the state, using a Jeep to ensure that he is able to get to even the trickiest of locations to see the flowers.

"If I can see tyre tracks it means my Jeep can go there,” said Elliot, who spends 12 hours a day at each location.

“It starts in Death Valley then San Diego and then it moves towards Lancaster, California where I capture the poppies in the Mojave Desert.

"The poppies are at a lower elevation, but as it gets to the Alabama Hills you are photographing at 400 feet.

And this year he has been able to shoot the most rare super bloom in one of California's most scenic locations, the Alabama Hills at the foot of Mount Whitney and Lone Pine Peak in the beautiful Eastern Sierra.

The location has been used in a number of Hollywood films, including "Iron Man", "Gladiator" and Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained".

And it is not only Elliot that has been impressed by the Mojave desert displays near Lancaster, with the iconic 1996 movie "Seven", starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman using the location for the film's gut-wrenching ending sequence.

Elliot added: "I always joke that this is where Gwyneth Paltrow's head is."

AN-McGuckenSuperbloom - By Hayley O'Keeffe - WITH PICTURES AND VIDEO

A photographer has captured the Californian landscape bathed in a vibrant sea of colour after millions of wildflowers burst into life in the best ‘superbloom’ for six years.

Dr Elliot McGucken has spent the last month capturing images of the rare desert botanical phenomenon, which creates incredible floral displays that are so impressive they appear more like a painting.

The carpets of multi-coloured flowers can even be seen from space, but only when perfect growing conditions allow the native plants to bloom in grasslands and deserts at the same time.

Elliot carefully studied weather forecasts and maps to ensure he picked the right time to capture the peak of the superbloom, before the yellow, red, orange and purple flowers lose their petals and shrivel up when temperatures rise in the coming weeks.

He said: "It is definitely the best superbloom in six years. It won't be long before the warmer temperatures wipe out all of the flowers. I got there just at the right time and I'm really happy with the results - it's a magical experience during a superbloom.

“You can go there and then a day later the petals will be falling off and the flowers will have dried out. I have to watch the weather very carefully.

“I'm 75 per cent weatherman and 25 per cent photographer."

A superbloom occurs when wildflower seeds, which have lay dormant in desert soil, start germinating at the same time.

Heavy rainfall during the winter, followed by warm temperatures and sunshine in the spring creates the perfect growing conditions, but the desert must remain dry enough in the weeks before so that weeds don’t suck up the moisture the flowers require to bloom.

The phenomenon attracts flocks of visitors each time it occurs, leading to areas of California including Death Valley and The Carrizo Plain to be referred to as the ‘Meccas’ of the superbloom.

In Elliot’s breathtakingly colourful images, purple lupine, red and orange poppies and multi coloured wildflowers create dazzling natural displays that stretch for miles.

Every year Elliot, from Los Angeles, California, chases the superbloom across the state, using a Jeep to ensure that he is able to get to even the trickiest of locations to see the flowers.

"If I can see tyre tracks it means my Jeep can go there,” said Elliot, who spends 12 hours a day at each location.

“It starts in Death Valley then San Diego and then it moves towards Lancaster, California where I capture the poppies in the Mojave Desert.

"The poppies are at a lower elevation, but as it gets to the Alabama Hills you are photographing at 400 feet.

And this year he has been able to shoot the most rare superbloom in one of California's most scenic locations, the Alabama Hills at the foot of Mount Whitney and Lone Pine Peak in the beautiful Eastern Sierra.

The location has been used in a number of Hollywood films, including Iron Man, Gladiator and Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained.

And it is not only Elliot that has been impressed by the Mojave desert displays near Lancaster, with the iconic 1996 movie Seven, starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman using the location for the film's gut wrenching ending sequence.

Elliot added: "I always joke that this is where Gwyneth Paltrow's head is."

ENDS