Sunflower Fields
For all you photography bugs, if you're willing to take a short trip to Allamuchy, there are a few fields in full bloom.
Alphano Rd. to RT 612 (the road where Allamuchy School is located), make a left. Go about a mile or so to Maple Lane where you make a right.
Fields are located directly on your left.
This pic was taken with my i-phone, but I'm sure you guys can post some great photos.
lola 
Firefly lola I can't believe you posted this. I was just wondering - are the NJ sunflower fields in bloom yet?! Thank you! I'll be going soon to capture these gorgeous fields.
Rebecka Need to acquire a model that wants to chill with the sunflowers. How tall are these?
Christography A couple of things to know.
There is a pull-off on the side of the fields across from a house. A good place to park.
There is a LARGE dog ( unleashed) that lives there. He is neither friendly or unfriendly and barked and came over to investigate. He only came within 8 feet and barked. I told him to go back home and after a few minutes he did.
Sunflowers are tall - between 5 and 6 feet +. Bring a step ladder for best shots.
The sun is bright there and you will need a filter or wait til sunset ( which was beautiful last night.
I imagine you'll probably need a stool for the model if you're trying to get his/her head at the same level or higher than the flowers' heads. Maybe even a small ladder.
What about a photo walk / shoot at the fields?
outsider 
abbadabbadoooo Yay! I'm glad you guys knew about that location. They are just beautiful & I drive by everyday & pretend it's my backyard. Looking forward to more pics.
botheredbyu Is this a private property? Will the property owner get on my case/get the cops on my case?
Some Guy (Art) Of course it's private property. This farm grows sunflowers and sells them for birdseed. However, having said that I was not the only one there last night taking pictures. Do no damage and I am sure there will be no issue.
georget
From my trip of tonight. Is this the farm that belongs to the Gibbs family - the field on Maple Lane? If not - anyone know the owner?
Pvmom Thank you, PV Mom. The hardest thing was getting this angle. I knew it was going to be, as the flowers are taller than I am. Managed to swing it, though. I'm going to email this to the Gibbs family in case they want the pic.
Rebecka - shooting directly into the sun like that isn't any picnic either. But the result of the pink sunset really tops the whole thing off.
GC Beautiful Rebecka! We went there for some family pics last night too but we were there around 5:30 to 6. The sky was not as nice as in your pic.
One thing is for sure, if I go back, I'm bringing my tripod and stepladder.
emaxxman Sorry - this didn't show up the first time I posted it ;-)
A couple of things to know.
There is a pull-off on the side of the fields across from a house. A good place to park.
There is a LARGE dog ( unleashed) that lives there. He is neither friendly or unfriendly and barked and came over to investigate. He only came within 8 feet and barked. I told him to go back home and after a few minutes he did.
Sunflowers are tall - between 5 and 6 feet +. Bring a step ladder for best shots.
The sun is bright there and you will need a filter or wait til sunset ( which was beautiful last night.
Firefly
3 days ago
emaxx - yes, I would have missed you - I was there right before the sun went down over the horizon - I wanted to wait until the very last minute for a sunset pic.
GC - thanks to fabulous post-processing software, we can now shoot right into the sun, and either tone down the highlights or bring up the shadows... it really changes the game when it comes to light and what we're able to do with images.
maja 
happy2bhere 
JrzyGirl88 
I went up to the fields this evening looking to get a great picture for myself. I found the perfect spot and climbed up to the roof of the car. I set up my tripod, lens, and filters. It was perfect timing as the sun starts to peer from behind some cirrocumulus clouds. I turned on the camera "no card" reads on the display. I forgot the stupid memory card! Arrrggg!
Well, it wasn't a total loss. I had a 16MB card in my insurance cam in the glovebox so I got one picture lol.
OP, the picture is great. It looks like the sunflowers are getting ready for a good night's rest! I never knew we had such a beautiful field of flowers nearby.
I thought that was you OP. I guess I'll be going back tomorrow...stupid me couldn't find the place at first, then I missed the blood-red sun down by minutes. I'm really hoping an ND grad and the +/- 3 stop dynamic range of negative film pulls through for me. Also broke said ND grad pretty good...snapped off a good chunk out of the clear part, so I can hobble by at the moment, but a new one is in order.
Wow Rebecka, you have such a precious gift..Your sunflower photo made me almost cry! Irl, I have only seen several sunflowers growing together...Nothing like your amazing pic! Thank you for sharing it bc I was able to vicariously live through the picture....You are amazing, and I am so thankful for the pictures that you create!
reedfamilyrocks 
I'm so mad I thought about taking the ride but then decided to take the pups for a walk instead.
Maybe tomorrow night I will go even though they are calling for storms. However, that may be pretty too.
I still brought my new camera out with me tonight because I need all the practice I can get but they certainly aren't like the ones you guys posted.
My pics are a bunch of weeds that can't even compare....
nosila Nosila, I like your pic better than mine! Love the subtle fence part that is down in the LR corner, the way the fence "descends" into the image, which draws the eye in, and also the angle - perfect! It looks like you may have been quite low to the ground?
OP - we found the exact same spot!! It was the only place to get enough elevation to get over the fields. Was wondering if anyone else would get here. I backed our big pick-up in and set up a tripod in the bed. You did great with your "emergency" memory card!
Hi Nosila,
Nah, not just a "bunch of weeds" ... they're Queen Anne's Lace!
(Wild carrot, definitely edible too.)
Reminded me of home as a kid, what with the perspective ...
Good eye!
redmink1 Art - she recently bought it from someone you and I know... who upgraded to the 5D...
Congratulations on your purchase, Nosila! How awesome is THAT? I'd say that was some perfect timing!
3wbdwnj And you never know, there might be someone out there wanting to upgrade to an XS after finding even *used* T1i's are $400 despite NEW t2i's are only $550....
Martha You should have bought a Nikon and then you could've purchased this lens:
http://www.leonneal.com/blog/2012/07/31/nikon-800mm-f5-6-preview/
You could do your outdoor portrait sessions from inside your house. LOL!
I like the pic BTW. It has a real 3D quality with depth. The fence looks like it goes on forever in the pic.
Some Guy- How did you know that I got a 7D? Yes, I bought it from someone that upgraded.
I still have A LOT of learning to do but so far I have been enjoying it.
Rebecka- Well I love yours more..HA HA. Yours you should make into a greeting card it's beautiful.
I went up there this morning and took couple pics but love your night time one better and OPs but not sure when I will get up there for the perfect timing so I will just keep looking at yours :)
Big brother is watching...or EXIF data:
pic was taken on 8/4 at 7:33 pm with an exposure of f/16 @ 1/250 sec, ISO 640 and a focal length of 47mm.
Scary, isn't it?
emaxxman - I'm beginning to think you're right and the whole general consensus needs adjusting. I grew up in the print era where Nikon blew it and went low end and ruined their reputation. Their low end dalliance is long gone and perhaps their competitor's premium isn't worth it. An orthodontist can comment on the exact hundredth of a degree of an angle of the teeth's adjustment on those sample pictures. Those were probably taken a half mile away, give me a break. Maybe the hype isn't worth the $.
Emaxxman- I figured it has to be in the picture somehow....but how can you tell from that it was from a 7D?
Also, is there a way to block that? or is there a need to block it?
Nosila - Every time you take a picture it stores the details of what camera, what lens, what aperture, what shutter and f-stop you used as well as when, and practically every detail you used. As emaxxman said this is know as "EXIF" data and cameras store that in every picture you take by default. You'd have to edit every picture to remove that and any other number of details.
Yep; found it in the exif data.
And forget the 800mm...with Nikon, you could've gotten THIS:
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/nikkoresources/fisheyes/6mmf28.htm
Not sure why but I'm not a huge fan of the fisheye
See you guys taught me something today :)
That lens usually runs around $20,000-$30,000 IF you can find one.
The little brother, f/5.6 version, is on Central Jersey Craigslist right now for $7250:
http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/pho/3149486571.html
Yeah, I think the fisheye is a very limited application lens and could get old really quick. I think in my life, I've only had one chance where the fisheye would've been useful - inside the rotunda of the Capital building.
Beautiful blue sky Nosila.
So if you're lucky and you get a second shot, only $3600 a shot?? Rushing right out for that one. Mean while that cloud backdrop is not so bad, not to mention a few thousand dollars cheaper. ;-)
Beautiful lighting this evening, did alot of HDR shooting. I will post some of my first renders tomorrow.
Here is the first rendered HDR shot of Monday's beautiful sunset. Unfortunately they are not as clear as I had anticipated. I think the car my tripod was set had moved slightly.
Love the flare and the cloud patterns, OP - what HDR photo processing program are you using?
I have a question...when you guys with the nice cameras put up pictures are they enhanced color wise? Sorry amateur here..not sure what rendered refers to
.
Sort of. HDR photography uses a series of shots merged together to enhance different lighting situations. In this case the sky vs the fields. If a picture is taken of the fields the sky is over exposed and appears very bright. If a picture is take of the sky then the fields seem very dark. You can tweek alot of things, like the color saturation, in adobe photoshop.
"Rendered" in OP's case means he used several images and combined them into one.
I think it's a pretty good bet that we (photo buffs) are all looking at the color of our images before posting them. When you take a digital picture, you can look at in so many different software programs, and tweak everything, including color, so my short answer would be yes, Firefly, the colors you see posted are often tweaked or adjusted (what you would call "enhanced").
Thanks for the explanation. I am wondering if my shots would look as good if I tweaked them.. With today's technology there seem to be professional photgraphers coming out of the woodwork. What does it take (in your opinions) to be a good photographer?
Sure patience in taking the shot(s) but what about the knowing photo shop and the other programs? Does a good photgrapher need to tweak, enhance color and so on to be good or can a great picture just be snapped without all that.
Having a great picture is a good start. On some shoots I've taken at least 500-600 images and only came out with one gem, and you never expect it either. Later when your flipping through the images it's always; 'garbage', 'garbage', 'garbage', 'garbage', 'hey there's something', and then 'wow'. Two weeks ago during the heat wave, I was at the High Point monument it was 120 degrees inside and people soaked head to toe with sweat were running out the doors. I set up my tripod, sweat pouring from my head and took a series of open exposure of the stairway up. You just have to remember to keep shooting even if it means laying in mud or getting frostbite on your hands. Sometimes there is something you won't see and that otherwise mundane subject become extraordinary under the right circumstances. Don't worry to much about equipment, I've gotten plenty of 'wow' pictures using only a 6MP point and shoot.
Thanks OP...I call it a numbers game in terms of getting a good pic. I lay down all the time - I like the view
Firefly- you have to start with a really great image, and then the post-processing just adds the finishing touch. You do have to use post-processing software to be a pro in this day and age.
One of my favorite quotes is as follows:
"A photographer with a "no photoshop" rule is like a sprinter with a "no cleats" rule. You can do it, but you'll be hard pressed to find people taking you seriously."
And as far as being a good photographer vs being a "professional" photographer goes; they usually have little to do with eachother, especially now that "professionals" seem to be "coming out of the woodwork" as you had put it. From what I've read, most say it's around 90% business and 10% photography, so you really have to be good at business and selling yourself rather than being a good photographer. Of course if you are just awful, you might find yourself on here:
http://youarenotaphotographer.com/
You can have allllll the software out there, the best camera they have and still take TERRIBLE pictures
Exactly, Nosila. That's why I aim to get it right in the camera first. Especially since, back in the olden days when we actually had FILM in the camera, you either got the shot or you didn't.
I still shoot film...but even with digital you either get it or you don't. A properly exposed digital photo will always look better than one that was under/over and corrected in post.
And since the sentiment seems to be that film no longer exists, I have spare cameras and lots of extra rolls of film if anyone is interested in trying it out (especially slides) on our next photo meetup. ~_~
"but even with digital you either get it or you don't"
And since digital sensors behave more like slide film, it's even more imperative you do everything you can to expose properly.
I still bracket even when shooting with RAW.
Hey, guess which film I got back yesterday XD.
New Portra 160 that I pushed around WAY too much in post. This is how I had hoped it would come out, though. The tripod was sitting flat on the ground and I had to focus through a 90 degree finder, wide open on my 35mm. I think I hit it pretty good.
Awesome composition and exposure Art. The yellow sunflower just pops off of that "leaf" background.
Was up in Sussex Co last night and came across a sunflower maze!! You can actually go in and walk around and spend all day there - for $8. But, alas, the lighting wasn't the best as all the sunflowers were facing the wrong way, so I made the best of it and got a shot of a backlit flower with lens flare AND a sunstar. Too much?
Here's another=====>
I'll definitely make another attempt in the morning on another day.
I'm trying to figure out if these posts are in fact from last august 2012 so I don't drive all the way there and find out they need another month ;)
tamara contreras Yes that is correct, that is what the Aug '12 refers to.
The posts are all now almost a year old.
I went for a drive in Allamuchy yesterday - I didn't see any of the farms growing sunflowers... unless they planted late this year.
Nikki, the fields were at Gibb's Farm in Allamuchy. The pictures were taken off of Maple Lane. I checked most of that area and no farms have planted sunflowers this year.
Nikki - There are good detailed directions in the very first post. As the post before you pointed out that was all last year.
OP - They have not bloomed yet, but I suspect I've seen at least one field planted that may be ready in a week or two. If my suspicions are right, Donaldson's planted right along the edge of Allen Road.
Passing Donaldson's Farmstand today on Allen Road all the way to Rockport...there is about 1/2 mile of rows and rows of gorgeous Sunflowers. I am going back tomorrow to take some pictures. ..You must go see it....It is beautiful!!!
joyful Donaldson's also planted sunflowers in fields on both sides of Airport Rd for the Audubon Society that are in bloom right now.
Just saw Donaldson s sunflowers . After a long hard day that put a smile on my face.
Yes, I saw these yesterday too ! They were all facing away from me as I drove up the hill, need to go back with the camera and get pointed in the right direction!
These are for the Audubon society? I thought maybe for commercial use, the sunflower oil, or birdseed.
hktownie Donaldsonfarms is going to be doing sunflower tours starting tonight or tomorrow. Might be something to check out. Learn stuff and get beautiful pictures and I think I heard there will be water and melon or something at the end of the tour. They have about 30 achors planted of sun flowers.
Helper I was just at Donaldson's today and felt happy in the same way as the previous poster, a good day. The sunflowers are an awesome sight. Here are the details:
Sunflower Tours! August 31st thru mid/late September. Mon-Fri 9AM and 5PM. Saturdays and Sundays 9AM, 12 noon and 5 PM. Weather permitting.
Adults $5, Kids 5-13 $3, under 4 years free
Tours are 45 min to 1 hour long
Enjoy and photograph the sunflowers
Farm fresh fruit and water provided during the tour
Sunflowers can be cut in the field for purchase $2 each
Photo Contest on Facebook
40 acres of Black Oil Sunflowers for the NJ Audubon Society. Seeds will be harvested for birdseed and proceeds will fund conversation work. Hay ride
with optimum photo locations.
Chickadee There are sunflowers planted along both sides of Airport Road as well.
Tours? What could it be a tour of? If someone goes, please report back. I'm interested in hearing what it's like.
Regarding the sunflowers in Allamuchy, we drove there last week and didn't see anything that looks like sunflowers. The field where the sunflowers were last year had some a crop of something that was really short in height. If there is a field, I'd be interested in hearing about it. The view there is more scenic (since there are no high power towers.)
I'd love to take some photos of a sunflower field somewhere, but I can't walk the distance. Where can I go to take a few photos (and safely park my car nearby?)
Someone...you could easily walk to the flowers at donaldsons from their parking lot. I doubt they would have an issue with that since people take pics on the farm all the time.
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/warren-county/express-times/index.ssf/2013/08/warren_county_sunflower_fields.html
Article and photo of the sunflower fields at Donaldson's in the Express Times today.
Thanks for the article, Chickadee.. Sounds like it might be worth a trip to Augusta, NJ also to Liberty Farms to see another glorious planting of Sunflowers. How could anyone be in a bad mood after they get to see this beautiful sight??
Well it looks like they're donating the crop as birdseed to the Audubon Society. It's understandable that they would want to offset some of the costs with tours. I still wonder what's in a tour though.
Really great that they are donating. This is a worthy org to donate to. I shall take a tour .
Mariann 
We grew our own this summer...the mammoth kind at that :) My boys saw the ones at Donaldson's and asked why their's were so tiny.
LadeeVee 
I work right around the corner from the sunflower maze in Augusta. I don't plan on doing the maze, but I hope to see the flowers soon :)
Lori...since '73 
Tracy Regarding Liberty Farms, pictures on the web look awesome. Just one question - is the fee only if you go into the maze? We just want pictures near the sunflowers; don't actually want to go into the maze.
Some info on Donaldson's farm tours...
I double checked this morning, Gibbs farm is all soybean this year.
My DD and I went to Donaldson's today! She really enjoyed it, was a nice tour of the farm as well.
Cherie 
so glad I found this site and this thread - the flowers were spectacular - we parked along airport road and had a great time taking pictures - it is really gorgeous - I'm posting one of many
noname 
I went to Donaldson's yesterday and took the 5PM tour. I highly recommend it. There are spectacular photo opportunities everywhere.
I forgot to mention they were shooting a independent film yesterday, with zombies!
I can't wait to go back when the lighting is better.
Was driving along Airport Road this evening on the way to Walmart and was surprised at the amount of people alongside the road with cameras. They were across the street from the back of Donaldson's taking in the beautiful field of sunflowers. Is that also Donaldson's property there on the other side of Airport Rd?
Headed up the road a bit and the kids got a HUGE kick out of the low flying plane coming in for a landing at Hackettstown Airport. Would have went right over us if I hadn't chickened out and slowed up a bit :-)
Vic Just passed Donaldsons a few minutes ago and saw two artists with their pallets and one with a gorgeous almost finished oil painting of those beautiful Sunflowers..
Anyone interested in a sunset tour photo shoot? I contacted Joan and she said it would not be a problem, granted we could get 15 or more people.
I took some more great pictures this evening. A special thank you to Katie and Greg.
I retouched my previous picture to make the sunflowers brighter, not quite finished yet.
positive wow - beautiful show OP..............I might be interested. When were you thinking of doing the tour?
Hopefully we can organize this soon. The field where I took that pic is starting to get past peak. Keep in mind we need some specific clouds to catch the low sunlight over the ridge and Sunday has a weak storm front passing through our area.
Thought I'd share a pic of one of the sunflowers that is now growing over onto our deck. It's at face level with me now and I was able to get some fun close up shots.
skippy why are they charging for tours when the guide is a volunteer from the Audobon Society? is the money donated to the Audobon Society? definitely beautiful to look at, but the donaldson greediness has taken the gild off the lily for me...bad enough they rake folks over the coals for corn, hayrides, and pumpkins with their high prices. please tell me all monies are being donated!
Gen3Townie Townie, you have to understand Donaldson's Farm is a business. The tractor takes diesel, the employee who drives the tractor gets paid. The tour guide is usually an employee of the farm. Planting and soon harvesting the crop takes time and money they will not get back since they are donating the crop to the Audubon society.
As for prices of produce, you can't compare shoprite prices. A local farm operating in NJ has tremendous overhead. Taxes and seasonal viability alone are why so many farms have folded up. Embrace the fact that you have a local farm with a very accessible market and a diverse selection.
Also consider all that Donaldson's has done for the community before you judge.
going back tomorrow with my cousin - such a beautiful sight and my camera is itching to take more pix
Donaldsons tomatoes were the same price as Shoprites and taste much better!
I like how Doanldsons has their Friday nights in the summer, their maze in the fall with pumpkin picking.
The good thing about it you are not forced to go there and buy their products. I find their produce prices pretty much the same as other local farms.Some higher some lower. best also is pretty comparable and they buy from each other. they help each other out.
Christine 
Thank you to all who brought attention to these beautiful fields. If Donny's continues doing this and getting attention, the traffic will be a nightmare, but it is so beautiful and makes me loving here more!!
Hope maxwell 
I went back today with friends - so beautiful but I could see that the petals were beginning to wilt..............so if you haven't been, I suggest getting there soon
Great pic noname eventhough the sunflowers are a bit wilted it shows another perspective.
Actually I find it very interesting.......the flowers look sad. I know I'm ready for the nut house! Lol!
Reminds me of The Wizard of Oz for some reason. Don't ask and yes they do look sad.
jrn OP....that picture of the Sunflowers at Sunset should be on a Calendar. Absolutely beautiful!!!
Cherie: That Sunflower high up by itself looks like it is teaching the others "how to dance the "Twist".....
I know, this is the 3rd time this has happened... how can clouds evaporate so quickly? lol
OP-- glad to hear it's all being donated. Not judging...just asking. Guess my past experiences there have made me feel like it's all about the money with them over the past ten years...lost it's small town feel to me. glad for their financial success, tho.
bowie 
I went there last week with the family for some family portraits. It was beautiful. It's amazing what a difference one week makes. I really hope they plant them again next year.
I also got to meet OP and Some Guy (Art). Got to talk photo equipment stuff. Great guys.
Emaxx, I almost forgot. Here's the link for lighting 101 from strobist:
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html?m=1
SueR Unique photo's class is coming up this Saturday, 9/21 for a sunset tour of Donaldson's sunflowers.
$35/person
http://www.uniquephoto.com/event/475
Not much to see there...the outing is late by a week or so....so glad 8. Got there twice
Djb I did a slow roll past Donaldson's this evening... I did not see any potential sunflower fields. Nothing is posted on their website about upcoming tours. I also passed by Gibbs and it seems like they did all corn this year.
Donaldsons has them
In the first field before the strawberries but they are only a few inches tall so far
Jdem Just an Update. Did another pass at Donaldson's farm. From what I can see, they have a few fields planted, but they are short- very short. The most mature field, near the horse stable, looks like it may bloom in a week or 2- the tallest plant there being about 4 foot high.
Scoped Donaldson's farm this morning. Looks like they planted in the same fields as the 2013 season, which is great news! Most of the plants are only knee-high at this point.
I made a map of observable fields. There may be more I could not see. Marvel at my state of the art graphics...
OP I am marveling, OP! Nicely done map, and lovely of you to take the time, so that the many of us who love to photograph the sunflower fields can find them easily! :-)
fujixt1 
The sunflowers are starting to bloom. Ive updated the map. The stuff in red looks like some sort of soy.
I'm trying to put together a sunset tour for this weekend at Donaldson Farms. Is anyone interested?
Here is a newspaper clipping showing some mutant sunflowers my Dad grew some years back:
RAD Driving down Allen Road this evening past Donaldson's farmstand...seeing rows and rows of those beautiful sunflowers....Just breathtaking!!
Yep. Said the same as Joyful. Airport rd and allen rd around 6:30pm. Breathtaking.
I have to thanks Donaldson Farms, Katie and Joan for being so accommodating. This weekend's weather looks fantastic and most of the sunflowers are in bloom. If anyone would like to go, please indicate here as the tour has a cap of ~35.
-note, please do not message me through this website as I will not receive the e-mail.
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