2014 Wildflower Season Just Weeks Off

The annual spring wildflower season is now just over a month away. There are many outstanding Ozark wildflower venues in the Buffalo River region, probably too many to list. Virtually every feeder creek and river access point is pretty good.

Spring Beauty, Ponca Access

One reliable sign of the arrival of the wildflower season is when you first see daffodils popping up. I use the appearance of daffodil foliage as the signal to hit the trails to map out flower locations and estimate the timetable of the blooms.

The spring wildflower season is pretty long. If you wish to create a "bucket list" of species, you will have to visit often. Some species bloom across the entire spring season, others bloom only a couple of weeks. I like them all, and I enjoy the unfolding of the bloom across the roughly 3 month season.

Learning to take great wildflower photos will strengthen your photography because it forces you to understand the interplay between light, shadow and color to achieve what some call "cinematic lighting".

Cinematic lighting is what I seek when I stalk wildflower pictures. Master this lighting strategy and your creative expression will really improve with every photographic subject you tackle.