always leave traces in the leaves
I am not necessarily admitting anything, but one way to get something in focus on a manual lens – and this works best with a breeze so things are always moving in and out of the zone – is shoot in continuous mode while generally focused in the vague area you want to photograph. If you hold the shutter button down long enough, eventually something will wind up in focus and then later you can just delete 450 crap photos and get on with your damn life.
NOT THAT I DID THIS.
Posey, Texas
photographed 7.20.2025
it gets me every time
A monochrome of a sunflower field seems like the floral equivalent of a monochrome photo of a rainbow. So I did it.
You may not know that Texas is the third highest producer of sunflowers in the US. Also it takes about 16,000 sunflower seeds to plant one acre, which is interesting because that is roughly the same number as it takes to get through one baseball game.
it takes a lot to really disappear
Yes. So, there are sunflowers this summer. These aren’t the giant ones prized by backyard gardeners but a shoulder-high variety produced for “oilseed, birdseed, and occasional confectionary purposes.” And there are acres of them; the fields glow in late afternoon light. (And in early morning light too, I presume, but I’ve never been out there early enough in the day to verify.)
I was still wearing that delightful orthopedic boot, walking through dry and sandy soil while trying not to fall over, and (because why not!), trying to successfully focus a photo with a new manual-focus lens. Here’s what happened:
- I didn’t fall down.
- Although I did get about 13 cubic yards of dirt inside my boot.
- I was shockingly bad at the manual focus situation.
- But somehow managed to get a bee in focus in this image.
Go figure.
(Also, if my foot surgeon asks you if I walked in a field lately, the answer is, “No. Don’t be ridiculous.”)
title from lyrics by Matt Berninger – “Bonnet of Pins”
Posey, Texas
photographed 7.20.2025
plastic-wrapped, 2
In addition to the plastic-covered equipment from yesterday’s post, we also saw an entire building that was wrapped in plastic. It was flapping in the gentle 25 mph breeze that wafted through, which gave the whole thing a lovely kinetic feel.
Olton, Texas
photographed 7.19.2025
plastic-wrapped, 1
My main rule is that if my friends Ron and Cheryl call up and offer a day-long road trip, the answer should always be an enthusiastic yes. And when Ron says for me to be sure and bring my cameras “just in case” the only thing left to do is coordinate what time they’ll stop by to pick us up.
And that’s the story of how I happened to see this plastic-shrouded piece of agricultural equipment along the highway.
Olton, Texas
photographed 7.19.2025
One Day | One Image 