Monday, August 18, 2014

Flowers of the Sun

Better known as sunflowers….
I have volunteers in my veggie garden and flower garden every year. This year they nearly took over the veggies. The finches visit every day and now the dove are gleaning from the ground.
Very few farmers plant sunflowers here. There are usually a few fields along a 7 mile stretch of FM 1585, but this year only one. This field held two varieties. Part was planted with the large heads and short stalks. Another part of the field was smaller flowers, taller plants.
I was hoping to photograph them this week as it appeared they were at peak when we drove by Saturday night. We had been out 'cloud watching'. Storms were brewing to the East and the sun was about to go down. I have a great iPhone shot and edit of these clouds with the sunflowers in the foreground, but you'll have to come back tomorrow for App Happy Wednesday.

This morning I woke up around 5:30 which is highly unusual. Since sleep didn't return it was the perfect chance to grab coffee and camera, leave hubby a note, and look for the light.
The large sunflowers were actually past their peak but I like these types of photos too. I will have to revisit when they turn brown.

Textured as shown with 2 of Kim's textures.

The smaller flowers were like those I'd photographed last year. They were the type that I found the sunflower with the heart. So I was on a mission to find another. A few came close. But not as perfect as last year's flower. This was the closest….

Then I found an eaten leaf. Perfect…..

A butterfly showed up…..

A sun flare...

And the farmer cultivated his cotton nearby...

I had almost forgotten to make use of the polarizing filter that was on my lens. This is SOOC. (straight out of camera) I should have bumped up my exposure a bit...
I was on my knees shooting up when another strange bug showed up. At first I thought it was a dragonfly. It was buzzing around rather high, nearly over head. It was too large for a dragonfly and it was making me nervous. I took a couple shots of it and it flew off. Vain imaginations ran through my head about it being a drone. (Seen too many movies lately.) Hubby said if it was a drone it, it would hover. Well it did hover… But hopefully it was a bug. If you recognize it let me know.
On the way home I got to photograph the horses that are never close to the road anytime I drive by. I caught them with a little rim light. kk_touchof-1 texture.
I should get up this early everyday… I had the freezer defrosted, some laundry done and a peach pie baked by noon! Thanks for coming along on my early morning adventure. 
All edits done in Lightroom.
Linking up with Kim for Texture Tuesday.
“Texture

10 comments:

  1. Oh i love your sunflower shots they aren't grown in fields near us but I sometimes see them towering above people's gardens.

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  2. Don't you love volunteers in the garden? It's like a Christmas present. And how can we ever go wrong with sunflowers? I love all of these, Roxi. I'm so glad you got up early. :-D

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  3. Gorgeous sun flowers - so awesome to see a entire field of bright sunflowers. Love that leaf image - I love finding hearts everywhere. Enjoy your peach pie!

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  4. Great images and processing. There's just something about sunflowers...

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  5. I love sun flowers and you captured them so beautifully. I like the textures you selected for them.

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  6. that eaten leaf is perfect! and the other pics...wonderful...
    early morning before the sun comes up is the best...too bad most days I am on my way to work then...:(

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  7. A sweet sentiment to go with your sunny sunflower.

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  8. this has to be one of my favorite visits so far, roxi! sunflowers make my heart smile, and we plant them every year here in our yard but they're not quite that tall. your edited image is lovely! and wow, what a stunning iPhone image of those storms a brewin'! *note to self: must check out 'app happy wednesday'! :)

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  9. It is amazing what a couple extra hours in the morning can do. Love those sun flowers.

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  10. Oh man, LOVE your sunflowers. I wish we had fields here they are my favorite. Beautiful pictures.

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I read and appreciate all your comments. Have a blessed day!