In the woodlands of early May, the shy waxy white blossoms of mayapples hide beneath their umbrella-like foliage. Their parasols obscure our view of the flowers from above. But the bunnies below can see them just fine. Mayapples with one umbrella cannot collect enough light energy to produce a flower. But mayapples with two umbrellas can. The flowering mayapple in the center clearly shows a pair of leaves rising from the central stalk.

 I’ve been photographing nature for thirty-one years. And for much of that time, I’ve been searching for an opportunity to showcase these flowers in the form of a landscape. However, due to the logistical and compositional challenges of setting up a clean shot from ground level, several conditions must be met, many of which I have no control over. Therefore, I don’t waste time actively seeking this rare scenario. Rather, I enter the scenario into my brain’s pattern-recognition system with an instruction to subconsciously scan for the proper conditions and to sound the alarm when they’re met.