I’ve been photographing nature for thirty-one years, now. 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, many conditions need to be met, much of which I have no control. Therefore, I don’t waste time actively searching for the unlikely perfect scenario. Rather, I enter the scenario into my brain’s pattern-recognition system with the instruction to subconsciously search for the proper conditions and to sound the alarm when they’re met.

In May of 2008, the alarm went off, and I composed an image that I thought I’d never beat. Then in May, sixteen springs later, the alarm went off again. With this image, I may be able to switch the alarm for good.