Im walking a bit later than usual this morning. The overnight temperatures got fairly cool, so Im waiting for my preferred power walk temperature. As a result, I have a bit of extra time, so I went back through my photos for today’s post.

When I came across this photo, I remembered stopping my walk abruptly when I saw some dandelion seeds floating by and getting caught in the end of life fluff of other wildflowers. The entire scene was so light and beautiful. I was hoping to capture the feel of what was happening without having to shoot a video.

In reviewing the photo today, the light pink/coral colour cast had me both puzzled and vexed. I knew these seeds and their landing pads were pure white.

I took the photo into my Snapseed editing app and tried adjusting the white balance. This didn’t work, curves didn’t work, and exposure adjustments didn’t work.

Finally, I had a lightbulb. I wondered if I had taken this photo when I was out on a sunset power walk when the sun was so red from forest fire smoke. Sure enough! The time and date stamp on the photo proved this to be true.

I had thought about rendering the photo in black and white, and that looked ok, but after realizing the reason for the lighting in the original shot, I decided to leave it as is. It’s a reminder of how the setting sun illuminates everything it touches, in the colours it chooses.

“Dandelions, like all things in nature are beautiful when you take the time to pay attention to them.”

June Stoyer