All around the United States, there are many traditions about March. In like a lion, out like a lamb. How is your college hoops bracket doing? But in Texas, it's bluebonnet season and every Texans wants pictures of their children in bluebonnets.
I am not a native Texan. Nor am I one of the "I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could" bumper sticker people. I am from Ohio via California and never imagined how deep the heart of Texas really is. Not everything is bigger in Texas, but Texas tradition runs deep.
BBQ, rodeo, The Alamo, and bluebonnets. As a photographer, I refused to do bluebonnet sessions. Setting up camp in a ditch to shoots blue-ish purple flowers. Risking snakes, mosquitos, cars and a grumpy toddler didn't sound like my cup of tea.
I remember my first Texas spring and seeing people putting their toddler in a bunch of weeds for a picture along a busy road. I thought they were silly. I personally prefer tulips or hydrangea, but the novelty of this fickle flower blew my mind. My kindergartener came home and told me all about them and that they are protected. You are not allowed to pick them or mow them off! But you can squish them with an unwilling child? It took me two years to do my first blue bonnet session. There is something about the fragrance that greets you as you open your car door along the side of a busy road. As you step into the ditch and the scene becomes magical. These purple-blue flowers among the red, yellow, and white wildflowers stand their grown and demand to be seen.
This year, I broke down and did bluebonnet sessions.
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