Even though it is called “The Sunflower State”<\/em>, in the past\u00a030+ years<\/strong> I have lived here, I have not<\/strong> seen sunflowers<\/strong> as often<\/strong> as you might\u00a0assume<\/strong>. So, when flying<\/strong>, if I see the “yellow glow”<\/em>\u00a0in the distance, I’ll\u00a0swerve<\/strong> off course to fly over them. Such was the case last Summer<\/strong> when I spied several fields<\/strong> of commercially grown sunflowers<\/strong>\u00a0South<\/strong> of Norwich, Kansas<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n The Sky Surfer’s Shadow<\/strong> on a Field<\/strong> of Kansas Sunflowers<\/strong> – Summer 2013<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n A common misconception<\/strong> about sunflowers<\/strong> is that they “track the sun”<\/em>. Many people think that sunflowers<\/strong>\u00a0turn<\/strong>\u00a0during the day to keep their faces<\/strong> to the sun<\/strong> as it moves<\/strong> across the sky<\/strong>. As you can see<\/strong> in the photo above this is\u00a0Not True<\/strong><\/span>. I learned this<\/strong> and many other things about sunflowers<\/strong>\u00a0in 2008<\/strong> while I was shooting<\/strong> a segment of my music video<\/strong> “Lil Prop – Big Prop”<\/em>\u00a0 (Part of the movie on Ultralight Flying<\/strong> “UFM2<\/a>“)<\/em>. During the research phase<\/strong> for this shoot<\/strong>, I found Farmer Marty Ternes<\/strong> who cultivates land a couple miles North<\/strong> of the village of Riverdale, Kansas<\/strong><\/a>. To find him I had visited several Farmer’s Co-ops<\/strong><\/a> to see if there was a consensus<\/strong> regarding the best sunflower field<\/strong> around. Marty<\/strong>\u00a0was\u00a0highly regarded<\/strong> so I sought him out. Upon meeting, he said it would be OK<\/strong>\u00a0for me to fly low<\/strong> over the field and also to set the movie camera<\/strong> up at various locations in and around the field.<\/p>\n From Marty<\/strong> I learned a number of things about sunflowers<\/strong>. First off, he squelched<\/strong> their “sun-tracking”<\/em> capability. Then he explained that commercial sunflowers<\/strong>\u00a0(like the ones shown in this article)<\/em> have been purposely\u00a0bred<\/strong> to\u00a0“droop”<\/em> their faces down after the seeds<\/strong> have developed. The seeds<\/strong> are the crop<\/strong>. They are harvested to make sunflower oil<\/strong> and snack food<\/strong>. Before the development of the “drooping”<\/em> strain, a large flock of birds<\/strong> could descend on a field before harvest and pick it clean<\/strong>. No<\/strong> place for the birds to land and eat<\/strong> means\u00a0one less problem<\/strong> for the farmer. The problem <\/strong>with the “drooping heads”<\/em> for me<\/strong>, though, was that this makes<\/strong> for a narrow window<\/strong> of “Photographic Opportunity”<\/em>. Sunflowers<\/strong> look their best with their faces<\/strong>\u00a0gazing toward the sky<\/strong>. These modern varieties<\/strong> only do that for between 5 and 14 days<\/strong> before they tip completely over and stare at the ground<\/strong>. The weather<\/strong> would have to cooperate<\/strong>, too, so I was praying<\/strong> for everything to come together<\/strong>. I had to get this done. I couldn’t wait another year…<\/p>\n A Ternes Sunflower<\/strong> being sampled by a beetle<\/strong>. Photo by Doug Moler – 2008.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n My discussion with Marty<\/strong> took place in the Spring<\/strong> of 2008<\/strong>. He told me when to check back<\/strong> with him and he would let me know when the flowers<\/strong> were getting ready to open<\/strong>. The “Lil Prop”<\/em> music video<\/strong> was shot over a large variety of venues<\/strong> and was done single camera,<\/strong>“film style”<\/em>. There were none of the “GoPro”<\/em><\/a>– type cameras out yet so I bought a palm-sized Panasonic HD camera<\/strong> and mounted it at various stations<\/strong> around the airplane.\u00a0<\/strong>(Designing<\/strong> and implementing<\/strong> the camera<\/strong>\u00a0mounts<\/strong> was a huge challenge <\/strong>in itself…)<\/em>\u00a0After mounting the camera at a particular station I would\u00a0fly<\/strong> to the area<\/strong> I was working on to get footage<\/strong>. Depending on circumstances<\/strong>, this might mean flying to each location 6 or more<\/span> times.<\/strong> I had a\u00a0“nose”<\/em> shot, the “tail”<\/em> shot, the “shoulder”<\/em> shot, the “wing”<\/em> shot and limited “handheld”<\/em> shots. The hardest shots<\/strong>\u00a0to get were the “ground to air”<\/em> footage but that was only due to “co-ordination issues”. For these I employed Ace Cameraman Jeff Johnson<\/strong> of Rose Hill, Kansas<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0to shoot footage of me flying by, over and around him.\u00a0Jeff<\/strong> is a busy guy and often<\/strong> makes trips out of town<\/strong>.<\/p>\n A couple of days prior to the “magic time”<\/em> for The Sunflower Shoot<\/strong>, I toured<\/strong> the field to see which direction<\/strong> the flower faces were pointed<\/strong>. They were looking\u00a0East,<\/strong> so we would have to shoot before Noon<\/strong> to get the best effect<\/strong>. Then, the day before the shoot<\/em>,\u00a0Jeff’s Mother took ill.<\/strong> He had to leave town to see her. He would not be able to shoot the segment I had been waiting a year to do. The only other cameraman I would trust for the job was me but, I was flying the airplane. Solution? I called My Good Buddy<\/strong>, former Quicksilver Dealer<\/strong> and Ace Pilot Steve Ewing<\/strong>. He was glad to sit in<\/strong> for me. I ran him through the shot sequences<\/strong> I was looking for, dressed him up<\/strong> to look like me<\/strong> and we did it. That allowed me to include many deluxe\u00a0“ground to air”<\/em> shots of the Quicksilver<\/strong> dancing over\u00a0Ternes’ lush sunflower field<\/strong> in the movie.<\/p>\n Upon hearing about the shoot,<\/strong> another\u00a0Buddy, Captain Doug Moler<\/a><\/strong>, who besides being an\u00a0Ace Pilot<\/strong> is also a fine photographer<\/strong> was eager to join me<\/strong> on the ground. While I was shooting video<\/strong> of Steve<\/strong>, Doug<\/strong> took pix of the sunflowers<\/strong>, the Quicksilver<\/strong> and The Cameraman<\/strong>. (While writing this, I remembered the super photos<\/strong>\u00a0that Doug<\/strong> took during that trip and decided to include some<\/strong> of them in this story. He’ll love it.<\/em>)<\/p>\n Before Steve<\/strong> arrived on the scene, Doug<\/strong> took this picture of me embedded<\/strong> in sunflowers<\/strong>, my first HD Camera<\/strong> at the ready. That was a Panasonic HVX 200<\/strong>. I now have a Panasonic HPX 300<\/strong>. Photo: Doug Moler – 2008.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n Still waiting<\/strong> for Steve<\/strong>, Doug<\/strong> took this of the acres of sunflowers<\/strong>\u00a0arrayed before us. Photo: Doug Moler – 2008.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n A design feature<\/strong> that makes my Quicksilver<\/strong> unparalleled<\/strong><\/span> as an aerial photography platform<\/strong> is its\u00a0unobstructed<\/strong>\u00a0forward<\/strong>\u00a0view<\/strong>. Although I have taken to including portions <\/strong>of my airplane <\/strong>in the picture frame<\/strong>\u00a0at times (I call them “GlennView<\/a>s”<\/em>), my main method is to photograph<\/strong> the countryside<\/strong> from an\u00a0“angel’s eye”<\/em> perspective. I want these pictures to look like<\/strong> the camera<\/strong> is just hanging<\/strong> in the sky<\/strong>. That is what makes the Quicksilver<\/strong>\u00a0so good<\/strong> for my style of photography<\/strong>.<\/p>\n In addition, there is an\u00a0<\/strong>unexpected benefit<\/strong><\/span> to having the engine<\/strong> and propeller<\/strong> behind the pilot<\/span>: Olfactory<\/a>\u00a0Overdrive<\/strong>!<\/strong> Because there are no<\/strong> gas, oil and exhaust fumes<\/strong> wafting across my face from the motor, when flying low<\/strong> over cornfields<\/strong>, milo<\/strong>, new wheat<\/strong>, the fragrance<\/strong> is magnificent<\/strong>. Sunflowers<\/strong> are the best<\/strong> of all<\/strong>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/fitzvideo.com\/skysurfing2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/IMG_4106.jpg\")
<\/a>Sunflower School<\/h4>\n
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<\/a>The Show Must Go On<\/h4>\n
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<\/a>Additional Bonus<\/h4>\n
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