Tony's Takes Photography

Wildlife, landscape and weather photography

Shocking sunflowers

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Lightning pops over a field of sunflowers east of Denver, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Lightning pops over a field of sunflowers east of Denver, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

A little bit of lightning fun on the plains of Colorado.

I was a bit late getting to this spot yesterday evening and missed much of the show. Thankfully, I did get there in time to get a few cool captures.

The thunderstorms were quite strong and very electrified sending many bolts to the ground. Throw in the orange glow of the setting sun and the flowers and it was pretty neat.

I don’t have a lightning trigger so just have to keep snapping pics repeatedly hoping lightning pops at the right time.

Lightning pops over a field of sunflowers east of Denver, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Lightning pops over a field of sunflowers east of Denver, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Even the sunflowers like to watch a Colorado sunrise

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Sunflowers greet the sunrise on the Colorado plains. (© Tony’s Takes)
Sunflowers greet the sunrise on the Colorado plains. (© Tony’s Takes)

A break from pics of my visit to the 49th state to an image from the 38th taken this past weekend.

My photo outing Saturday wasn’t as productive as I would have liked but I did find a few worthy subjects. Most notable were the first signs of blooming sunflower fields.

Only a small portion of them have opened with prime time probably still a week or two away. The ones that were open did make a few, nice compositions like this one.

Forest filled with columbines

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A columbine blooms on the floor of the forest in Colorado's high country. (© Tony’s Takes)
A columbine blooms on the floor of the forest in Colorado’s high country. (© Tony’s Takes)

I might be biased but I tend to think that Colorado has just about the prettiest state flower of any and it is most fitting to share these on Colorado Day. 

I happened across this scene a couple weeks ago and spent tons of time photographing it – I had never seen so many columbines in one location.

The floor of the forest under the aspen trees was covered with them! I suspect it had something to do with the wet winter we had.

The forest floor under a grove of aspens is covered in columbines. (© Tony’s Takes)
The forest floor under a grove of aspens is covered in columbines. (© Tony’s Takes)
The forest floor under a grove of aspens is covered in columbines. (© Tony’s Takes)
The forest floor under a grove of aspens is covered in columbines. (© Tony’s Takes)

Colorado columbines

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Columbine flowers wet from a passing rain shower soak in the sun in Thornton, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Columbine flowers wet from a passing rain shower soak in the sun in Thornton, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

What do you do when you are bored but don’t feel like driving around for a photo op? You head to the backyard! Actually, in this case, our side yard in front where my wife has an awesome flower garden going on.

Among the subjects, the Centennial State’s flower which I have to say is just beautiful. I don’t have a “real” macro lens so make do with standard glass but it is fun to get out there and see what I get.

There are 70 specials of columbine, a third of which are native to North America. For the Colorado state flower, it is specified as the Rocky Mountain columbine, like these, with the purple and white. It is said the purple / blue represent the sky, the white the snow and the yellow our state’s gold mining history.

Columbine flowers wet from a passing rain shower soak in the sun in Thornton, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Columbine flowers wet from a passing rain shower soak in the sun in Thornton, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Columbine flowers wet from a passing rain shower soak in the sun in Thornton, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Columbine flowers wet from a passing rain shower soak in the sun in Thornton, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Wild sunflowers greet the sunrise

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I’ve been seeing tons of these beautiful flowers across the Great Plains lately and last weekend made sure to capture some pics of them. This image is probably my favorite of the bunch. As the sun rose it illuminated the petals of the flowers making them seem to glow. Image available here.

Wild sunflowers greet sunrise on the Colorado plains. (© Tony’s Takes)
Wild sunflowers greet sunrise on the Colorado plains. (© Tony’s Takes)

Big flower, little bee

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The sunflowers are in bloom on the Colorado plains and I of course had to head out and check them out this past Sunday. There didn’t seem to be quite as many fields of them in the usual areas this year and a couple fields looked really anemic. This one though was gorgeous and ablaze in bright yellow beneath our blue skies. A closer look at this one saw a busy pollinator at work. The bee was well-camouflaged with its color scheme closely matching the flower’s.

A bee busily works on a blooming sunflower on the Colorado plains. (© Tony’s Takes)
A bee busily works on a blooming sunflower on the Colorado plains. (© Tony’s Takes)

Rainy day flowers

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Some captures from this afternoon after a period of intense rain here in the Denver area. I don’t have a true macro lens so made do with my wide angle and getting within a few inches of the flowers.

Somehow my camera was taking JPGs instead of RAW files so that really limited my ability to process the images and get the quality I was hoping for. Nevertheless, it was fun to take some pics of something different.

Columbine flowers following a rain in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Columbine flowers following a rain in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Columbine flowers following a rain in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Columbine flowers following a rain in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Flowers following a rain in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Flowers following a rain in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Flowers following a rain in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Flowers following a rain in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Wildflowers and the Tetons

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The weather during my trip to Grand Teton National Park wasn’t ideal with quite a bit of rain and a good bit of cloud cover whether it was raining or not. Nevertheless, there were times those clouds really helped pictures and added drama. Such was the case with this image. The blooming wildflowers dominate the foreground with the snow-covered mountain peaks in the background. Above, the mostly cloudy skies added some drama.

Wildflowers bloom at the base of the Tetons in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. (© Tony’s Takes)
Wildflowers bloom at the base of the Tetons in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. (© Tony’s Takes)

Sunflowers watch the sunrise

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Taken Sunday morning out near Denver International Airport. The rising sun lit up the clouds in shades of red and orange with the always beautiful, blue Colorado sky in the background. On ground level, the flowers in this field were starting to get their first taste of the morning warmth and their edges lit up by the increasing light.

Sunrise illuminates the sky on the Great Plains with sunflowers on the ground below. (© Tony’s Takes)
Sunrise illuminates the sky on the Great Plains with sunflowers on the ground below. (© Tony’s Takes)