Bill and I were able to make a couple of trips out to McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area outside of Poolesville, Maryland last weekend. The sunflowers are full bloom – and are incredible.

This is my third year photographing the sunflowers at McKee-Beshers. The first year I was there towards the end of the peak bloom and photographed isolated flowers. Last year, I photographed a panoramic photo of part of the field. This year, I was hoping to photograph isolated blossoms to add to my series of gallery wrapped flower canvases I’ve been showing, and to try a few different views of the sunflowers.

Here are some of my favorite sunflower photos from this year.

First are a couple of isolated flowers.

Sunflower III (c) 2008 Patty Hankins

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

Next, another isolated blossom from a slightly different angle. I liked the way this blossom seemed to be reaching for the sun.

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

Since I’ve taken probably hundreds of photos of the whole sunflower blossoms, I decided to try for something a little more abstract. Here’s a sunflower from the back – I thought the pattern of the leaves on the back of the petals was neat. With my macro lens I was able to capture the detail of the fuzz along the edge of the leaves.

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

I photographed this sunflower from the side – shooting across the flower. I tried several different apertures for this look – decided that I really the one at f22 the most. Just about everything in the photo is in sharp focus.

Sunflower Closeup (c) 2008 Patty Hankins

I couldn’t resist taking a few photographs of the field. I like presenting these as panoramics. Looking at a field of sunflowers just makes me smile.

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

My last photo is something completely different for me. I got my first digital camera in 1999 and have shot less than 30 photos on film since then. Sunday morning, I decided to try taking a photo on one of Bill’s Graflex SLR’s. I used the Graflex RB SLR Super D with Polaroid Type 56 Sepia Toned 4″x 5″ Film. I’m beginning to understand the appeal of the large format SLRs – it’s got a big focusing screen. I did miss the instant feedback of the histogram from my DSLR!

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing some of my sunflower photos from last weekend. I’m hoping to get back out to McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area later this week. The sunflowers there are one of my favorite photo spots every year.