Sunflower Field - A Photographer's Playground

It's August in Michigan.  Cherry's have been harvested, apples are expanding every day and in the near future pumpkins will be glowing orange in the fields.

Sunflower Row - Sheen's Nature Photography

This is the time of year when many farmers have dedicated acres of their farms to sunflowers.  Rows and rows of vibrant yellow faces are loaded with pollen for the bees and seeds for the birds.

"Blues Skies Shining on Me" - Sheen's Nature Photography

Bee's Breakfast - Sheen Watkins

Sunflowers with their happy, yellow petals and intricate, kaleidoscope patterns of seeds are simply a joy to photograph.

What lenses to use?

Because of their photogenic nature, portrait, macro and wide angle lenses allow the photographer to 'play' in the field. The "Sunflower Row" image was taken using my 50mm 1.8G lens on a full frame camera (Nikon 600).

The "Bee's Breakfast" macro image to the right was captured with a 105mm Macro lens.

These images were taken last weekend just north of the little quaint town of Pinckney, Michigan. I spent two hours 'playing' photographer in sunflower rows on this multi-acre sunflower farm.

There were still many petal-posers in full bloom even though I was two weeks behind the peak blooming time for this particular patch.

When in the field, it's easy to lose track of time.  But that's ok when surrounded with subjects that shout 'sunshine and happiness'.

Happy Shooting!
Sheen