Impressionist Flower Photography

My recent visit to the Longwood Garden in Pennsylvania was a fruitful trip and I came back with full load of flower images. There are unlimited ways to photograph flower and one of my favorite approach is the impressionist photography. By simply pan or zoom the camera over about half a second to a few second (depend on the lighting condition), I was able to get the unique images as shown in this post. It's all about experimentation by varying the shutter speed, direction of panning, speed of panning, speed of zooming in or out, etc. After quite a number of trial and error, here is it - the flowers are now dancing happily! 

Happy Hour

There is no excuse not to shot macro in the Sussex County Sunflower Maze. Besides the majestic view of sunflower maze, the little buddies, mostly bees, are everywhere. I found this pair of goldenrod soldier beetles mating on the sunflower and I couldn't resist myself from photographing them. After I took this picture, a rain came down all of the sudden and we sheltered under the tent. Interestingly, when the rain stopped after 15 minutes, we found this lovely couple is still wandering on the same flower in the same posture! I guess they are really having a good time:P

Sussex County Sunflower Maze

Sussex County Sunflower Maze in Augusta, New Jersey is the largest sunflower field on the east coast, with over 1 million flowers bloom this year. This is the most majestic sunflower field I have ever seen in my life and I would strongly recommend to anyone who love flower, nature or summer!

Just a bit of education... Since 2008, New Jersey Audobon Society, with the support of the Department of Agriculture in New Jersey, create a program called SAVE (Support Agricultural Viability and the Environment). SAVE program has recruit 14 farms in New Jersey to grow sunflowers and harvest the seed. This is to reduce our dependence on the distant farms and thereby reduce the carbon footprint involved in transporting the seeds to New Jersey. SAVE buys the seeds from the farms and sells the birdseed statewide. Besides, SAVE also supports the environment by establishing 1 acre of grassland habitat for wild nesting birds for every 5 acres sunflowers planted (Source: Here Comes The Sunflowers).

Sunflower Fields in New Jersey

In New Jersey, you may find magnificent blooming sunflower fields in one of many local farms around July and August. Since 2008, eight farms in New Jersey have signed up with New Jersey Audubon Society to devote several acres of land to grow sunflowers for birdseed (see: NJ Farms Blooming With Sunflowers).

The above abstract picture (camera panning technique) of sunflower field was taken at Duke Farms in Hillsborough. I am a frequent visitor of Duke Farms and I enjoyed very much the nature and relaxing setting there. Though not very big in size, the sunflower field located in front of visitor center offer a pleasant view at anytime of the day.

There are plenty of other sunflower fields in New Jersey. Noteworthy, the Sussex County Sunflower Maze in Augusta is the largest sunflower maze on the east coast, with over 1.5 million flowers in 2013. Besides, Donaldson Farms in Hackettstown has about 30 acres of sunflowers planted throughout the farm, and they offer sunflower tours from late August to mid/late September. Brodhecker Farm in Newton also has a magnificent sunflower field in their farm.