Sunflower photos have been on the list of "themed" photo shoots I wanted to do with my daughter for a while. It took me a while to finally take theme because I had been looking for the perfect sunflower field. There are fields in our area, especially near the airport, but they are on private land and are definitely a no, no for photographers. While many have shot in these fields, I wasn't going to trespass or risk damaging valuable farm crops. So I looked at several options including driving a pretty long distance or paying a hefty amount to reserve a spot at a flower farm. In the end I came up with an alternative plan.... which failed miserably. 

At the beginning of the year I planted a bunch of sunflowers in pots in our yard, thinking I could move them around to use as a backdrop when they finally bloomed. But not only did the pots end up being very heavy and difficult to move around, the deer decided they were a tasty snack and ate most of them before I noticed. I was able to rescue a few by moving them onto our deck. But when blooming season arrived I was left with a severe shortage of sunflowers, but the perfect yellow dress for my daughter to wear. So, I started looking for sunflowers everywhere I drove and finally, I saw a small patch in a park just down the road from our house. I knew this was not a lot of space to shoot, but I had to make it work. And early one evening I cut the remaining flowers I had grown so she could use them for a bouquet, had my daughter get ready, and headed out.

When we got there, I realized the small patch of flowers, coupled with the slope of the terrain that put her above me, would make it obvious in photos that it was just a few flowers. Envisioning final portraits that looked like she was in a flower field, I knew I had to make some adjustments. And then it started to rain. I quickly got us back in the car, drove home to get a small ladder, and returned just as the rain stopped. I was then able to use the ladder to shoot from above her in many photos, changing the angle to make it look like there were more flowers behind her in some of the shots. And because we weren't in a large flower field, I was also able to get some shots that took advantage of the beauty of the surrounding area, as well as her new high school in the background of one.

This was a great reminder that many times conditions aren't ideal, but what you make of them sometimes turns out to be better than what you ever hoped for. Photography lesson, life lesson.