Ennis Bluebonnets 2022

I made my annual pilgrimage to Ennis last Friday. The weather forecast called for comfortable temperatures and mostly sunny skies, so there seemed like an excellent chance for a colorful sunrise.

Itching for something a little different on my seventh trip to shoot the bluebonnet bloom, I decided to give the west shore of Bardwell Lake a try for sunrise.  I like sunrise shots across water, and felt confident I could find some interesting foreground elements.

Unfortunately, the cloud cover turned out to be thicker than I'd anticipated.  The clouds rolled in while I was watching the sky grow lighter.  Shame, because I did find a foreground I liked. 

A brief break in the clouds came right as I was walking by some other nice foreground scenery, so I quickly set up and shot again.  That would be the last time I saw the sun that morning. :(

I headed next to the Meadow View Nature Area and waited for the local constabulary to come and unlock the gate at 8 a.m.  They were a little late, but the bluebonnets weren't going anywhere.  Patches were thick near the lake, and the thick clouds actually served to provide some nice drama.

A young Texas Longhorn gave me a wary look.

I headed to another area of past wonderment -- Mach Road.  The bluebonnets here were sparse, but yielded a nice "less is more" shot.

My favorite spot was next -- the field south of Telico where last year the owner approached me while I was shooting and asked if I thought he should put up a welcome sign.  I was delighted to see that he had!

The flowers here were as thick as ever, in full bloom, and still taller than the grass.

I got down low for a nice look at an isolated White Bluebonnet.

There were fewer Indian Paintbrush than I had seen in past years, but not a complete dearth.

I always enjoy the "something extra" the hay bales in Holy's field add to the scenes.

Hay bale triangle!  Fundamentals of photography, y'all.

I headed towards Sugar Hill Road and stopped to spend some time with a more mature Longhorn steer.

None of my other stops -- Union Hill, Andrews Road, or Sugar Hill Road -- yielded anything of interest.  Sugar Hill Road was actually quite nice, but also quite crowded by the time I got there.

All in all, another worthwhile trip.  The skies weren't what I had hoped for, but I was told something 25 years ago when I started playing competitive Magic and I think it applies just as well to photography -- Anything is workable!