My first trip specifically to photograph the Texas state flower, the bluebonnet. Some of the best places to photograph them are in the Hill Country. I found these in Brenham, however, in a small roadside field next to a park. Brenham is only about an hour outside of Houston, unlike the Hill Country which is three or more. I went as close to sunrise as I could, wanting to capture these flowers in golden-hour light. When I got there, it was only a little later than I would have liked, but I quickly realized that the position of the sun behind some trees meant that the bluebonnets would have been in shadow if I’d gotten there right at sunrise. So I started shooting, and I very quickly discovered the magic that is morning dew glowing in the light of the rising sun.
Wildflowers turn the fields of Texas into a sea of color.A bee drinking nectar from a beeblossom flower. If you look closely you can see the bee’s tongue!A Beeblossom FlowerA caterpillar on a bluebonnetA single paintbrush flower among the bluebonnetsThis private field was across the street from the field where I was shooting.Another bee on a beeblossom flowerI’m not positive, but as far as I can tell after googling yellow wildflowers of Texas, this is an Engelmann’s daisy.Another Engelmann’s daisy, with a sunburst in the backgroundThe fenceline in the field across the streetThis bright glow was achieved by shooting the flowers head-on – the sun was maybe only halfway up by this point in the morning, so not high enough to create harsh shadows yetA closer view of an Engelmann’s daisy – I cropped this photos so the sunburst didn’t distract from the flower.
