Mustard

One of the signs of spring is the mustard that covers most open fields and orchards. It is lovely to look at, but it is a weed that sucks up a lot of water. Most ranchers/farmers/orchard owners plow it under. This creates a less colorful orchard, but one where the trees don't have to compete for the water.

On this photo shoot, I was trying to isolate one flower with a blur of surrounding yellow. I was partially successful. I plan to go out again before it is all plowed under and try to isolate a distant flower with blurred yellow in the foreground.

This one I call "Blowing in the Wind" I drive by this fence fairly often and liked the contrast of the yellow mustard with the white fence. I've been looking for an opportunity to try out a technique I read about in a magazine: find a stationary object surrounded by flowers, or tall grass, or wheat, and photograph with a slow shutter speed so the flowers (in this case), are wind blurred. The stationary object is needed to "ground" the photo. Since I was shooting on a fairly bright day I added two neutral density filters to get a slow enough shutter speed. I hope the mustard lasts long enough for me to go back and practice some more.