Tag: Story

Good Morning Summer

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Good Morning Summer is actually the title of the photo you see at the top of my blog – the oxeye daisy.  This same photo is used as the cover photo on my Facebook Page, Google +, Twitter and TBecker Photos.  It has become part of my brand.  Of all my photos why this one?  While this image is one of my most popular macro images, it’s not the image that makes it special, but the story behind it.

This image was made in Acadia National Park near the Tarn.  It was the second day of a a five-day workshop through Arizona Highways Photo Workshops.  My day started at 3:20 a.m., yes that is very early!  We loaded the vans at 3:45 a.m. to make a short trip to our sunrise shoot location.  After shooting sunrise, the Tarn was our next stop.  It was full of lily pads and reeds.  At one end of the Tarn were wildflowers; lupine and oxeye daisies as well as some others.

I spotted this particular oxeye daisy covered in dewdrops reaching towards the early morning sunshine.  There was a slight breeze and I did not have a plamp to hold it.  Trying to make a sharp macro image with a breeze is impossible without help.  It was nearing time to head back to the hotel for breakfast and down time.  I so wanted a shot of this flower.  Two of the other participants came over to help block the breeze.  Can you imagine three people standing around one lone flower?  But sometimes that’s what it takes to get the shot!  And one of my best shots of the day and the whole workshop.

LIttle did I know what a statement this image would be for me.  Oh, I forgot to mention it was my birthday the day this was taken – what a gift!

As the image at the top of my blog is cropped, I thought you might like to see the image in its entirety.

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Good Morning Summer

After Visiting the Infamous Bridges

Published on by tbeckerphotos5 Comments

After visiting the infamous bridges of Madison County, I wanted to watch the movie, at least for the second time.  It was several weeks later when I actually rented the movie.  When the movie first came out, I went to see it and loved it.  Even bought the book and read it too.  My perspective was completely different watching the movie after having visited the bridges and now being a photographer myself.  It was interesting to see the angles used in filming the bridge scenes, both at the Holliwell Bridge and the Roseman Bridge.

In the scene where Francesca shows Robert where the Roseman Bridge is, I got the biggest chuckle out of the wildflowers he picked for her.  You know the one’s where Francesca tells Robert that they are poisonous as a joke.   I had seen the purple flowers growing along the sides of the gravel roads and highways when I first got to Iowa this fall.  Several times I asked people “what are those purple flowers I keep seeing alongside the road?”.  Funny, everyone said they didn’t know.  When I finally saw some up close I immediately thought they looked like desert chicory or white tackstem that we see in Arizona in the spring, both of which are white.  So. one day I picked some and went to the County Extension Office to inquire.   And sure enough, it was chicory that I was seeing.  Once I told everyone that I had picked some and went to the County Extension Office, they said “oh, I didn’t know that’s what you were talking about”.

Sometimes seeing a movie or reading a book for a second, third or fourth time, you pick up on details you missed before.   Especially if it has been years, your perspective has now changed due to more and different life experiences.  Had I not recently been to Iowa, visited the infamous bridges of Madison County, picked and photographed chicory, I may not have noticed the wildflowers Robert picked for Francesca were chicory.

Curious about my day in Madison County?  Read my post Not Just Bridges in Madison County.

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