Texas | Beautiful Flower Pictures Blog

Photos from the Road

by hankinslawrenceimages | Apr 1, 2024 | Louisiana, Nevada, Texas, Utah, Virginia

I used to do a lot of traveling and photographing. For many places, I really don’t have enough photo to do separate blog posts – so thought I’d start combining photos from various places into a series of photos from the road. Hope you enjoy seeing the scenes from some of my travels.

New Orleans, Louisiana

Texas

Assateague National Seashore, Virginia

Zion National Park, Utah

Zion National Park @2024 Patty Hankins

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada

Richmond, Virginia

New Photo: Prickly Poppies in the Wind

by hankinslawrenceimages | Apr 27, 2015 | Flowers, New Photos, Papaveraceae Family, Texas

Prickly Poppies in the Wind © 2015 Patty Hankins

I’ve recently added a new photo – Prickly Poppies in the Wind – to my BeautifulFlowerPictures.com website.

This photo is the first photo I’ve ever offered for sale that is a composite photo. What you are looking at is actually a combination of ten photographs of the same set of wildflowers blowing in the wind.

Taken a couple of days after I photographed the Texas Wildflowers in the Wind – I photographed these wonderful white Prickly Poppies (argemone albiflora) along the side of the road on a windy day east of Austin, Texas. When I photographed them, I took a number of photos (somewhere around 30) with my tripod in exactly the same spot – hoping to stop the action of the moving flowers enough to capture a sharp image of these wonderful white wildflowers. When I looked at the photos on my computer – I wasn’t happy with any of them. Not a one of them was sharp in all the key spots – and captured the beauty of the flowers. So the images sat on my hard drive for several months.

Then last fall I took a workshop with George DeWolfe where he introduced us to a technique for stacking images to show motion in a photograph. As I watched the demo – and experimented with a few photos I took in a nearby field – I realized that this was the perfect technique for me to use on the prickly poppy photos. So when I got home I chose ten of the images of the white prickly poppies and stacked them into one file.

I was amazed at the results – I love how the final image looks. None of the flowers are in sharp focus – instead they seem to all be moving every which way – which is exactly what they were doing along the side of the road when I photographed them. I’d love to know what you think of my photo – and if you think it shows wildflowers dancing in the wind.

Prickly Poppies in the Wind is available as a matted print on my website.

New Photo: Texas Wildflowers in the Wind

by hankinslawrenceimages | Apr 1, 2015 | Fabaceae Family, Flowers, Orobanchaceae Family, Texas, Wildflowers

Texas Wildflowers in the Wind © 2015 Patty Hankins

I’ve recently added a new photo – Texas Wildflowers in the Wind – to my BeautifulFlowerPictures.com website.

Texas Wildflowers in the Wind is the second wildflower photograph from my 2014 trip to Texas that is available as a matted print. It features two of the wildflowers I saw every day during the trip – Texas Bluebonnets and Texas Paintbrush. As I drove through east Texas, the roadsides were filled with large patches of bluebonnets and paintbrush. I loved seeing the combination of the purple and orange flowers.

One afternoon, the wind was blowing wildly. I tried photographing this wonderful field of flowers – but just couldn’t get my typical sharply focused image where I stopped all the motion. And then I realized that what had caught my eye was not just the flowers – but also they way they were moving in the wind. So I adjusted the settings on my camera to get as long of a shutter speed as I could manage in the mid-afternoon sun, and starting taking photographs. Finally I captured this image – which showed what I saw in the field – the wonderful Texas Wildflowers dancing in the wind.

Texas Wildflowers in the Wind is available as a matted print on my website.

New Photo: Texas Bluebonnets

by hankinslawrenceimages | Mar 12, 2015 | Fabaceae Family, Flowers, New Photos, Texas, Wildflowers

I’ve recently added a new photo – Texas Bluebonnets – to my BeautifulFlowerPictures.com website.

I’ve always heard the the bluebonnets are spectacular in the spring in Texas and that every wildflower lover has to see them at least once. And despite the fact that my parents lived in Texas for 25 years, until last year, I’d never made it to Texas in the spring to see them. Last spring, I decided it was time to see them for myself. I spent a wonderful week based in Austin – driving out each day in search of bluebonnets (and other wildflowers) to photograph. I found them – and they were magnificent.

This is one of my favorite photos that I took during the trip – a close up of the Texas Bluebonnets. I feel like it really gives the sense of what being in the middle of a group of bluebonnets is like, while showing the wonderful details of the individual flowers.

2014 may have been my first trip to Texas for the bluebonnets – but it certainly won’t be my last. I’m already thinking about going back next year 🙂

Texas Bluebonnets is available as a matted print on my website.

Bluebonnets!!!!!

by hankinslawrenceimages | Apr 25, 2014 | Fabaceae Family, Flowers, Texas, Wildflowers

I’ve always heard the the bluebonnets are spectacular in the spring in Texas and that every wildflower lover has to see them at least once. And despite the fact that my parents lived in Texas for 25 years, until this year, I’d never made it to Texas in the spring to see them.

This year, I decided it was time to see them for myself. I spent a wonderful week based in Austin – driving out each day in search of bluebonnets (and other wildflowers) to photograph. I found them – and they were magnificent.

I’ll be editing the photos and offering some for sale over the next several months. But first, I want to share the incredible beauty I saw in Texas. These are quick edits I did on the road of some of my photos. I hope you enjoy seeing them.

A Field of Bluebonnets

Field of Bluebonnets © 2014 Patty Hankins

Wildflowers Dancing in the Wind

Bluebonnets and Texas Paintbrush

Bluebonnets at an Old Cemetery

Bluebonnets

Engelmann’s Salvia – salvia engelmannii

by hankinslawrenceimages | Sep 26, 2011 | Flowers, Lamiaceae Family, Photo Locations, Texas, Wildflowers

The Salvia’s are a very colorful diverse member of the Mint (Lamiaceae) family. While I was in Texas earlier this year – I had the opportunity to photograph Engelmann’s Salvia (salvia engelmannii) – which is native only in Texas. When I was photographing these wonderful purple and white flowers – I had no idea that Texas was the only state they grew in – so I’m very glad I spent time photographing so many of them.

Engelmann’s Salvia is named in honor of Georg Engelmann (1809-1884). Born in Germany, Engelmann immigrated to the United States in the 1830s where he practiced medicine. After developing an interest in botanical studies, Engelmann became well-known for his studies including work on identifying cactuses and vines. Engelmann’s reserach on grape vines played a major role in preserving the French wine industry when many vineyards in France were infested with Phylloxera vastatrix, a small insect. Engelmann identified varieties of native to the US grape vines that were resistant to Phylloxera vastatrix and arranged to have millions of shoots and seeds shipped to France.

Engelmann’s Salvia blooms in the spring. It grows to about 2 feet tall with a single spike of flowers on each stalk. It is also known as Engelmann’s Sage

More information about Engelmann’s Salvia can be found at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the USDA Plant Profiles