This was a shot taken for my wife’s benefit. She loves sunflowers and wanted a sunflower photo. Of course, I had a hard time finding a “look” that I was pleased with until this shot.

The family went to a farm in (of all places) Farmington to get some pumpkins for Halloween. Our kids love to take this trip and the farm no doubt rakes in the cash. They have horse rides, tractor rides, mazes, and other activities. It’s a nice day for the family - especially the kids.

As we were leaving the farm I noticed a huge patch of sunflowers, most of which were in good shape (I wasn’t at all interested in “cleaning up” a beat up flower in Photoshop). There was quite a bit of wind and, due to the location of the flower I chose, I had to hand hold the shot (I usually use a tripod). I also had a polarizing filter on my lens to increase color saturation and contrast, which cost me a couple of stops. I had to hold the flower still with my left hand while shooting with my right.

The crop of the flower was intentional. I liked the way the yellow of the flower played with the blue of the sky and green of the background vegetation so I pushed the flower to the left of the frame. I also think the framing makes the image a bit more unique than the cliched sunflower shots I usually see.