[/caption] Beautiful Dahlia flower on a beautiful late summer afternoon in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. The color of this particular dahlia is so awesome that I spent several minutes photographing it. The orange and yellow colors are so perfectly organized that it almost looks like a painting or air brushed photo. I did saturate some of the colors but other than that, it’s fairly raw. All of you macro photographers know how intoxicating it can be when you find the perfect subjects to photograph and flowers are no exception. The Dahlia festival in the Willamette Valley, Oregon offers some of the most amazing photography opportunities I have ever seen and you won’t be disappointed. Just make sure that you bring ALL of your macro lenses and plan on going on a sunny day. Since dahlia’s like the warm weather and bloom during late summer, you are almost guaranteed a beautiful sunny day during the month of September in Oregon. To get this shot I attached my Sigma 50mm mcro/prime lens and also attached my UV and warming filter. I kept the camera in Program/Normal mode and also kept the ISO at 100. The only thing that I change when needed is the White Balance and for this shot I kept it at 0. The aperture was automatically set at F-4 and the shutter priority was at 1/100 of a second. It’s best to visit during the morning since the sun is a bit lower in the sky and the dew on the flowers offer even better photo opportunities. The crowds are also almost non existent as well.