There is a very narrow window of time each summer where you can take photos of landscape scenes with wildflowers blooming in the foreground.  When that time comes, I scoop up my camera and get to work.  This time, I had my sights set on wild sunflowers in front of the Teton mountains from the Idaho side.

It wasn’t difficult to find a location to get this kind of a shot.  The Idaho side of the Tetons has plenty of wilderness right up to the mountains themselves.  All we had to do was find a spot off the side of the road with a good view of the Tetons, set up, and wait for the light to be right.

When we arrived, we found a very nice little rest stop (no bathroom though) with a few parking places designed to let visitors enjoy the spectacular view in front of them in the east.  It was perfect.  I started scouting for a place to set up my tripod.

After I found my spot, we had some time to kill before sunset.  I didn’t feel like sitting around and doing nothing so I started looking for other photos I could take in the meantime.  After all, I was in a field of wild sunflowers in the mountains.  There had to be other shots I could get while waiting.

I spotted this group of trees facing the west and saw that they had potential so I grabbed my camera.  As I was getting my composition right, I noticed that the sun was filtering through the leaves.  If I stood in the right position, the sun would shine right through.  This was perfect for me to try a sunburst or sun star in the shot.  I felt it would add something extra to a decent but mediocre-looking forest scene.  I was right.

As sunset approached, I got in position and awaited the light becoming warm and pink on the distant mountain peaks.  I chose my location well.  I had sunflowers in the foreground and the iconic Teton mountains in the background.

While I was setting up for the Tetons mountains shot, another landscape photographer joined us.  He was also interested in the kind of shot I was going for.  However, he fell victim to the same problem I did: the mosquitoes.  There were swarms of them.  I don’t know if there was a local water source for them to breed, but there they were buzzing around our heads and eating us alive.

I got one when it landed on my arm.  However, I still came home with several bites from others I didn’t notice in time.  The bug spray that we brought with us wasn’t doing enough.  We did more than one application too.  I guess it has something to do with the age of the spray (it’s a few years old).

In spite of the bloodsuckers, I persevered on and waited for the light.  The other photographer became disgusted with how the light was turning out and left before golden hour started so it was just me waiting for the landscape shot that day.  I almost thought that the light was going to fail me but I kept going and took photos as the sun set behind the horizon.

It wasn’t until the very end of golden hour that I got this shot.  The clouds had just started re-appearing from behind the Tetons to add some color into the sky.  The light got very soft and even.  All the harsh shadows were gone.  There wasn’t much time before blue hour started when I finally clicked the shutter on this shot.

The landscape surrounding the Teton mountains continues to provide allure and beautiful landscape and nature photography for me.  That’s probably why I keep going back for more.