Sunflower Season

The middle of summer has arrived and if you live in the DC area we are lucky to have some great fields for sunflowers that are open to the public.   Mckee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area grows several fields each year and currently the flowers are peeking!

Having shot the sunflowers each year for the past several years I find it a bit challenging to come up with fresh compositions.  On the way to the field this year I noticed some fast moving puffy clouds and was hoping to do some long exposures,  but by the time I arrived the clouds had moved out and I was left with a clear blue sky.   I reached for my seldom used fisheye lens and came up with the shot above.  I used a reflector to light up the face of the flower, but fill flash would have been an option here as well.  

Solitude

When I started thinking about this blog, I was going to title it “How’s Your Friday Night?”.  The only reason for that question is that I see others post pictures on social media asking such questions when they perceive their location is better at that moment in time than yours.

I’m not convinced that everyone would want to be standing in 3 feet of cold mountain water on a Friday Night.  But this is how I spent last Friday evening and I can’t think of any place that I would rather have been.  Even considering the mild case of poison ivy that was a result of this evening.

This little spot is hidden away on the upper part of the Rapidan River just inside of Shenandoah National Park.   The road getting there is a bit of a rough ride and not something I would want to travel without a 4x4 truck.  The entire evening I had this little portion of the park all to myself.   I love doing tours, workshops and meetups but last Friday evening I really enjoyed the solitude of having this little spot all to myself.