I can’t say that sunflowers are my favorite flower, but they have always seemed special to me.  They often just seem to burst with energy, just like their namesake and it’s rare scene that can’t be improved by the addition of a beautiful, healthy sunflower.

One of the places that we went to was Pindar Vineyards.  I went there because I knew, from friends who were there previously, that they had a wonderful field of sunflowers that would look just perfect in a photo.  However, by the time we got there, most of the sunflowers were wilted and gone.  I was upset about it for about a few minutes when I realized that I could still make a nice photo using one of the few still healthy sunflowers.   I focused on the still blooming sunflower and threw the rest of the photo out of focus to emphasize that one.  The result:  this photo, titled “Sole Survivor.”

Even though we did not find a full field of sunflowers at Pindar, we did manage to stumble across some that were growing in fields along the roadside as we drove around.   We came across one nice field of them and I had to stop to take some shots.  The result was this shot, titled “Looking Up.”

Another time, we managed to catch a few growing by the road just at sunset.  As a result, I got this shot:  Sun and Sunflower.

Lastly, on the last day of the trip, I found this flower.  “Grace.”

As always, comments, critiques and criticisms are appreciated and welcome.  Which of these do you like the best?

Zev

I arrived on a late Sunday afternoon (even I know better than to show up at a beach area on a beautiful Sunday at midday!) and began shooting.

One of the first sights that I saw was this guy sitting on a sign and couldn’t help but take his picture:

There’s a bit of a walk between the parking lot and the actual lighthouse.  At first, my lazy self was upset about having to walk all the way there, but the photographer in me actually began to appreciate it.  If I was able to park right at the lighthouse, I wouldn’t have gotten some of the shots that I did.  The long walk to the lighthouse gave me some time to consider different angles and compositions as I approached it.

My one major regret was not getting a shot with the sun setting in the top of the lighthouse.  Sadly, the angle of the sun was all wrong for that and in order to get it right, I’d have to go into areas which were off limits.  I’ll have to try again another time of year.

Zev