Whorl of Petals and Leaves

The moment is now, and I ask myself: What do I want this day to bring?
The last tide of trilliums is calling — it’s now, or I wait until next spring.

May is one of my favorite times in the Illinois Nature Preserves. For a brief window each year, the forest floor transforms — soft beneath the early green. And then, suddenly, there they are: trilliums. A scattering of white blooms, dappled in light, quiet yet undeniable.

These native Illinois wildflowers — Trillium grandiflorum — are delicate, transient, and captivating. Each flower is a perfect whorl of three petals, three leaves — poised and balanced. Their presence is fleeting, yet they arrive with a grace that draws me back each spring.

I set out with no grand plan — just a quiet pull toward the woods — and follow the trail to a familiar bend. And yes, the trilliums had returned, the forest alive with their brilliance.

I knelt down with my camera — not to capture, but to collaborate with their shape, waiting for the moment when light, shadow, and stillness converge. This is fine art nature photography: a subtle conversation with nature.

Illinois prairie and forest preserve photography offers expansive natural beauty, where the landscape stretches endlessly, and the earth speaks through grasses, wildflowers, and the open sky. As a photographer drawn to both, I’m continually fascinated by the ever-changing moments — whether in wildflower-filled forests or the vast prairies of Illinois.

Spring wildflowers in Illinois don’t last long. But when they do arrive, they remind us:
Beauty doesn’t beg to be noticed. It waits, patiently, for us to arrive and notice it.