Flowers & Foliage
With my dad having a love for gardening (both vegetable and flower), I grew up surrounded by flowers and flower beds. It was only natural that I developed a love for the beauty of God's creation in the flowers and foliage He gave us.
My journey into photographing flowers and foliage started a few years ago when I was in the Austin, Texas area at the height of bluebonnet season. I managed to snag some bluebonnet pictures that particular weekend, and had such a blast doing it that I've made it a point to try and look for more opportunities.
This collection includes mainly Texas wildflowers, but I've included some photos of different plants, trees, and foliage from other states we've lived in.
My journey into photographing flowers and foliage started a few years ago when I was in the Austin, Texas area at the height of bluebonnet season. I managed to snag some bluebonnet pictures that particular weekend, and had such a blast doing it that I've made it a point to try and look for more opportunities.
This collection includes mainly Texas wildflowers, but I've included some photos of different plants, trees, and foliage from other states we've lived in.
Undoubtedly my favorite shot from my visit to Kingsland. I've always loved old train trestles, and this one was no exception. The "funny but not funny" story behind this particular shot is that I had been out here shooting for at least two hours - waiting for the sun to set so I could get at least one, maybe two, good twilight shots with the old trestle. As the sun began dropping and I started losing the last little bit of light I had left, I set up and began shooting the old trestle from every imaginable angle, trying to get that "perfect" shot.
When the sun had dropped almost behind the horizon and there was virtually no light left, I finally decided to call it quits. I started packing up my gear, then turned to leave…only to discover an entire classroom of photography students standing patiently (and very quietly!) on the tracks behind me. They had been watching and waiting for their own turns at the trestle yet I had unwittingly stolen every last moment of twilight from them.
When I realized what had happened, I apologized profusely to the entire group; their instructor - as well as the students - were good sports about it and graciously accepted my apologies and told me they could come back on another occasion. The only redeeming quality I could take from my gaffe was the truth that this location is much, MUCH closer to these students than it was to me. I only hope they managed to get back out there and get some amazing photos.
This photo represents one of the most maddening dilemmas an OCD photographer can get into: the optical illusion. I worked with this photo for hours, trying to straighten the trestle in the distance because it was driving me nuts (it still does). Finally, after using some guide marks in Photoshop, I was able to get the trestle completely "squared", vertically and horizontally. And yet, it still looks like it's leaning. And yes, it's still driving me nuts. Finally, I realized the problem is the slope of the ridge in the background!
So, contrary to what your eyes are telling you, the trestle is not "leaning" (as it appears); but against the near-imperceptible angle of the hills in the background, it looks as though I took a crooked photo. I really didn't. Believe me: it's bugging me more than it bugs you!
