Gorman Beneath a Vast Blue Sky
Gorman’s wildflower-covered hills stretch beneath an unusually expansive blue sky scattered with moving clouds. Rather than allowing the flowers to dominate the panoramic frame, the composition gives most of the image to the sky, using California poppies, coreopsis, lupines, phacelia and gilia as a colorful foreground beneath the larger atmosphere.
I intentionally gave most of this frame to the blue sky and clouds. The wildflowers were meant to remain secondary elements in the composition, adding color and scale beneath the much larger sky.
The clouds were moving across the landscape and continually changing the light on the hills. After setting the composition, I had to wait for the clouds to move into the right position and for sunlight to break through and illuminate the flowers. For a brief moment, the foreground lit up beneath the deep blue sky and the elements of the panorama came together.