Saying Goodbye to the Sunflowers

“When you take pictures of nature with passion, nature poses for you more passionately!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

Each summer, I spend a great deal of time photographing in the sunflower fields.  I find it increasingly more challenging to walk away with a different image than

ones I have created before.

This July, I went to the fields on five separate occasions to photograph.  I honestly would have gone more often if I had been able.

Here are the images I created during those five trips.  The final image is the one that I feel is unlike any of the others I have captured in the fields and my favorite for the year.

The last image is my favorite from the summer.  The day I photographed this flower, there was an intermittent breeze while I was in the field.  Rather than fighting the breeze, I decided to use it to my advantage.  I used a neutral density filter to block some of the light.  This enabled me to use a much slower shutter speed.  Using a slower shutter speed, I was able to capture the petals of the flower in motion.  While processing the image, I darkened areas to create what I envisioned while photographing the flower in the field.

I look forward to next summer’s quest to photograph sunflowers in ways I have not photographed them before.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                     -Practice Makes Perfect  Magic