This won’t be a portrait post of my children (or anyone else’s) in the Texas bluebonnets. As much as I have tried over the last 21 years, I have NEVER managed to get a good photo of my children in these beautiful wildflowers. Someone is always grumpy, no one looks at the camera, the grass itches, there are bees, it’s hot, I don’t want to take a picture, she’s pushing me!… it’s always a fail. So this year, I decided to forgo even trying. This year, I took my macro lens (love me some 105mm magic!) and stepped out into the field behind my house. And you know what? I discovered that there is an abundance of life in those bluebonnets. So much so, it make me cringe to think of how we had trampled plants all willy-nilly in the attempt of getting one good bluebonnet portrait. I ended up going out twice, both times during the Golden Hour; the first time, it was overcast… the second, it was sunny. Anna was with me the first time and was enchanted with the ladybugs. We caught them a couple of times and I tried to get an image of one on her hand, but they would rapidly crawl around and takeoff. There is an image below called “Takeoff” where the ladybug was just getting ready to fly, but I was disappointed that I didn’t get the entire bug in focus. So when I went out again by myself a couple of days later, I attempted the takeoff shot again which culminated in the image called “Taking Flight”… one of my new favorites. It wasn’t easy balancing the 105mm with one hand while holding out the other! I’ve shared a couple of these images on the CMpro Daily Project and I should probably insert them as a Lightbox to increase page load time… but I couldn’t bear to see them as anything but full size. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. <3
Day One
Abundance
In Bloom
Blossom
The Lone Star
Rapid Retreat
Takeoff
Gathering
From Above
Unexpected
Day Two
Surprise Spider
Beetle War
Bluebonnet Sunset
Drunk on Pollen
Made it to the Top
There are actually three insects in this image. Can you find them?
Taking Flight
Big as a Blade
In Plain Sight
I think shooting non-portrait types of images can be an incredibly rewarding and soul-enriching study. Thanks for looking!
