Behind the Digital LensMusings of an Amateur Photographer

30th Mar, 2011 Springtime in Texas brings Bluebonnets

Springtime has come to North Texas, albeit shyly.  The first few days of Spring brought sunny skies, warm breezes, and temperatures in the mid-70’s to low 80’s.  And then Spring played hide and seek for a number of days, leaving us with dreary overcast, and drizzly cold days and miserable nights.  Flowers and trees were confused, grabbing little jackets as we all went through closets and drawers dragging out newly stored warm clothing.  Of course, it is early Spring and Old Man Winter just doesn’t give up easily.   And then Mother Nature is always on the sidelines throwing a twist into our expectations.

But, Texas’s annual sign of Spring arrival, the Bluebonnet, has been showing off its cobalt blue color and attracting bees for weeks now.  First, a small clump here, and one over there, and then two converging and then suddenly great fields of this incredibly beautiful flower burst into view, taking hold of Spring announcing its arrival, even days early.  Excitement in North Texas is in the air as adults become giddy, putting children and dogs of all sizes into their vehicles of choice and driving up and down country roads looking for T H E choice spot for trampling down the blooms to get that cute and once-in-a-lifetime photo of their loved one.  Okay, I’m guilty, too.  I admit it.  There is just something about this Springtime rite that is irresistible.  It is awesome to look out over a field and see large swatches of cobalt blue mixed with green and yellow grass, waving languidly in the Spring breeze.  Eventually the Indian Paintbrush will slowly creep in exploding red and orange among the elegant blue, forcing the Bluebonnet to give up and fade to white waving its goodbye until the following Spring.

Last Saturday, before the temperatures took a dive sending us back to late Winter, I grabbed my camera and headed down to the State Park and was blessed with unblemished patches of these spectacular flowers.  I could not wait.  The first large patch I came to beckoned to me and I pulled over and parked.  For the next 30 minutes I stood, bent over, sat, and laid among the Bluebonnets happily taking photos, lost in my favorite color.  Cars slowed, heads turned, fingers pointed and I knew that my pristine spot was being targeted for future use as soon as I left.  I eventually moved on, taking photos of other things and left two and a half hours later to go home, but I returned later with my wife and our youngest dog Lexie, a Maltese with a hurried brush out.  This is not a dog that understands “sit/stay” very well, so it becomes an exercise in how quickly can you focus and hit the shutter button before the little dog moves.  Thank goodness for multiple exposures!  We both came away with a few good photos.  Lexie, however, did not get her opportunity to run unabashed through the grass and flowers taller than her, but she did have a good time.

This weekend we will take our annual drive to our favorite hill in Ellis County so that hopefully we will get photos of the Bluebonnets before they begin to thin out and become trampled by the caravans of people jostling for the best position, the thickest concentrations of flowers, the best lighting and the fewest feet and legs invading our perfect photos.  We are always eternally grateful to the people that open their fields to us at this time of year, understanding our passion to digitally capture this Texas treasure that visits us once each Spring.

Texas's rite of Spring