Denny Creek

Denny Creek runs through a couple parks in Kenmore, O. O. Denny Park and Big Finn Hill Park, before it reaches its terminus in Lake Washington. There's a trail, accessible through O.O. Denny Park, that more or less follows its ravine, and I explored its lower reaches yesterday. It's not a place to which I'll be returning terribly often - there are bigger creeks and more interesting forests in the local area.

Nevertheless, and even though I was mostly exploring, I got a few interesting pictures. Here is one I took of some ferns (lady ferns?). In hindsight, I wish I had gotten out my macro lens so I could get in closer. Even so, I think this shot works, or at least is interesting, even if I wouldn't enter it in a contest or frame it necessarily. Also, for this shot I did something I usually don't do, especially in forest shots - I backed off the polarizing filter. I used it, but did not polarize the scene as much as I could have. When I did, there was too little contrast between the fern in the foreground and the ferns in the background; it was just a green mess! Reducing the polarization made things a bit more distinct, and less monochromatic.

There was a large rhododendron bush in the middle of the park, and it was in full bloom. Needless to say, this made me very happy. Rhododendrons have always made me happy; first of all because they are just big and bright and colorful, and secondly because they usually start blooming around my birthday, so they're sort of my special flower. When I was little we had a purple rhododendron in our yard that always bloomed on my birthday. Anyway, enough talk:

Finally, one more worthy of note. My instinct was not to try this, because the contrast was too great. But in fact, the contrast was so great that the tree in the foreground became almost a silhouette. This picture has a jungle-like aesthetic that I kind of like.