This photograph of a seedhead of tall ryegrass was taken on a high in Panthertown Creek, outside of Cashiers, North Carolina. It is a simple photograph, and one which I would normally have skipped right over when I was sifting through the hundreds I took that day. Nevertheless, something caught my eye in the simple elegance of the seeds and the blur and bokeh of the background. Although not actual wheat, this native grass reminded me of the old aphorism “to separate the wheat from the chaff,” which is exactly what I do when I cull through the photographs to find the “keepers.” The irony is not lost on me that the “chaff” nearly included this photograph.
Click here for a larger version.