Many of my summer mornings over the past 18 years have been spent at West Union Gardens. As soon as we got news that the first berries had appeared on the bushes, my mom would wake us up at the crack of dawn so that we could beat the crowds and the heat. We would go berry picking just about every week (and sometimes multiple times per week) until berry season ended. I have fond memories of fingers stained purple from berry juice and buckets piled high with a rainbow of berries in the trunk of the car. In the late summer, we would drive past the gardens and see the sunflowers starting to bloom.
When Lara messaged me about taking pictures in the West Union Gardens sunflower fields, to say I was excited would be an understatement. Not only would I get to photograph her darling family- I would get to take their pictures in one of my favorite places on earth!
I went online to buy tickets only to find out that they were already sold out! After a quick phone call, it sounded like we would be able to buy our tickets at the entrance to the field, but only if there weren't too many people there already. Luckily we arrived right before the evening crowd came, and we were able to get our tickets just in the nick of time!
We wandered around the fields, admiring the flowers, and snapping photos along the way. I loved following the kids around while they roamed. Some very cool sticks were found. Races were ran. Wild blackberries were picked and eaten. Weeds were turned into magical bouquets. And I was just lucky enough to be there to capture all of it.
