Blueberrymushroom

The Sunflower

Oct, 2009

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+15

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Behind The Lens

Location

This was taken off the side of the road in Wyoming. We kept passing these beautiful scenes, and we stopped to check the tires on our motorhome, so I used the chance to get this.

Time

There were many hours and days on the road, so the exact time escapes me. I'm pretty sure it was early to mid evening, just at the beginning of my favorite time to shoot.

Lighting

Lighting is key. Natural is the best, in my opinion, that's why I enjoy the bookends of the day the most. Bad lighting can really ruin a shot, but great lighting makes life much easier, especially in post-processing.

Equipment

This was taken with a Nikon D50, with the 18-55mm kit lens.

Inspiration

Sunflowers are everywhere, especially on this road in Wyoming. Trying to pick one to frame is difficult, especially when there are many to choose from. This lone one just stood out to me. It was just there, alone in the middle of the field.

Editing

I usually do quite a bit of post-processing in Adobe Lightroom, trying to bring out the most art in a natural way. I want it to look like the actual scene did in real-life, but with a slight personal flair. This one in particular needed a lot of editing, as dust had gotten on my image sensor.

In my camera bag

I am a Nikon guy. My family has always been, so I was born into it, and I get the benefits of borrowing their lenses. I currently have a Nikon D7100 paired with a 35mm 1.8. I always keep my charger and spare batteries with me, along with two 64Gb SD cards, so I always have a backup.

Feedback

Flowers can be difficult to photograph. If its windy, it may be hard to get a good clear shot if it's too close to sunrise or sunset, but you also don't want to get them in the heat of the day. If it's a nice calm day though, you can get some amazing flower shots with the dew and sun rays! Framing can be tough as well, but I like to focus on just one flower in my shots.

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Blueberrymushroom

Blueberrymushroom

The Sunflower

Behind The Lens

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