Maple Seed Abstract

I pre-visualized this picture on my morning hike. These maple seeds are back and cross lit in early morning light. Bokeh and selective focus complete the idea. Don't neglect nature-as-abstract photos. 

Maple Seed Abstract

Sunrise Anemone, Lost Valley Trail

Sunrise Anemone, Lost Valley

This Rue Anemone picture was taken 2 days ago. I hand held it from about 7 feet with my big 100-400 zoom.

The flower was in the middle of a bunch of dead grass that softened the morning sun. Look for these situations, often photographers don't notice slightly hidden flowers. They offer great filtered light opportunities. It is the small things that make flower photos exceptional. Note the tiny drops on the edge of the leaves.

Anemones look an awful lot like Sharp Lobed Hepaticas, but the leaves make it easy to tell them apart. Hepatica blooms have no leaves on the stalk around them. Rue Anemones always have leaves on the stalks. This picture is very typical.

The Rue Anemones are now coming on and they are a relatively long blooming wildflower compared to other spring wildflowers. Colors will range from this pink to white.

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.