Sunflowers of Colorado Revisited
The summer months can be difficult for landscape photography. There are no beautiful Fall leaves to peep. There is no real snow to speak of besides the little bit still hiding out in the shadows at the highest of elevations. Most of the Summer’s alpine flowers have faded until next year. *That pretty much leaves the sunflowers out by Denver International Airport as the only summer subjects left to scratch a landscape photographers itch.
* I write this sarcastically as, of course, there are other subjects to shoot in the summer, but it can often feel as if there is “nothing to shoot.” Hence the reason I started playing around with a bit of Fazbstract Photography.
Young Sunflower In Bloom
There is a good chance that one of the first things you think of, assuming you are a Colorado resident, when you hear of photographers photographing the sunflowers is trespassing. With the sunflowers seemingly becoming more popular as each year goes by, reports are swirling of fed up farmers, tickets being issued, and fines being levied. Social media is no doubt a major factor in the high number of visitors to the fields. The news has also played a part in the increased traffic with articles such as this one on KOAA’s website.
We can complain all we want to about what brings the people to the fields, but none of that addresses the real problems. The real problems are rooted in ignorance and disrespect. Many are ignorant to the fact that the sunflowers are a farmer’s crop and on a farmer’s private property. If you are reading this and you did not know, consider yourself no longer ignorant of these few facts. Others, however, know the facts and blatantly ignore them. They end up strolling through the farmer’s crop and stepping on plants. I’ve even heard of people ripping off sunflower heads and taking them home as souvenirs.
When Given The Opportunity To Be Like Everyone Else, You Be You
The images above are some of my faves in that, it would seem, the sunflowers that are not in full bloom often get overlooked. I, on the other-hand, was drawn to the flower due to it’s uniqueness among the crowd
I love the fields way too much to do any damage to them. For me, the fields are over an hour’s drive away. This, among everything else in a person’s life, can make it difficult to get out to the fields. I typically like to shoot mornings and evenings; another fact complicating the matter. If I drive up in the morning, it’s quite an early start to the day. If I hang around through sunset, it can make for a long day; especially having to travel I-25 to Monument, CO.
Seems SETI May Have An Interest In This Guy
I thought this particular sunflower looked quite interesting as it’s flower was nearly parallel with the ground.
As of this writing, I’d estimate that about 80% of the fields around DIA are past their prime. The one exception is the field with the barn in it as it’s flowers were perfect this morning as seen in the last three images of this blog.
If you intend to get sunflower images, keep your ear to the ground as the dates they peak fluctuate each year. The middle weeks of August seem to be safe bets as far as ensuring there will at least be something to take pictures of should you have to travel a decent distance to get to the fields.
Spotted Cucumber Beetle On A Sunflower Petal
‘Merica!
This image reminded me of an american Flag in the distance with the sunflower standing in front of it proudly.
There are an infinite number of possible compositions at the sunflower fields. Every movement, no matter if it is a bit to the left, right, forward or backwards, is a completely different composition. You are probably thinking to yourself, “Yeah, that is the case everywhere.” True, it is, but it just seems so much more drastic when your subject(s) is/are spread out over acres. .
Sunset Over Fields Of Gold
I got lazy with this shot and didn’t notice the lens flare. I was quite dissatisfied when I got home and saw it pop upon the screen. Learn a lesson from me, take your time. In this case, I was rushing around as the sun was sinking fast and the clouds were only going to allow a few moments to capture an image.
Sunset At Denver International Airport
Denver International Airport Awaiting The Night’s Arrival
Denver International Airport Welcomes The Night
The three images above chronicle the setting of the sun from the perspective of looking at Denver International Airport from the East. The topmost image shows the airport in its entirety. In the bottom two images, I got rid of the hotel at the airport as it was messing with the symmetry in my images. :-)
Morning’s First Light
Morning Sun’s Kiss
Between the above two images, there are only a few minutes of sunrise difference, yet those few minutes make a lot of difference in how each image looks.
“The Barn” Engulfed In A Sea Of Sunflowers
Go enjoy the sunflowers as they are a sight to see. Be respectful. Remember this: If you are walking around with a camera, other’s do not see you. They see “A photographer.” Don’t have them going home speaking ill about, “Those photographers…”
