The grass is on fire!

...Not really, but I had to get you to read this post somehow!

The other morning, I made a sunrise run to Magnuson Park - and I barely made it in time, since I slept in! I had set my alarm for the right time - but, whenever I set my alarm clock, I had switched around a.m. and p.m. So, my alarm was set for 4a.m., but at actual 4a.m. my clock read 4p.m. But, in a terrific hustle, skipping breakfast and neglecting to pack water, I got to sunrise in time. And good thing I did:

One of the peculiar characteristics I've developed in my photography, I think, is my propensity to frame sunrises and sunsets with other objects, especially plants; using a narrow depth of field, I focus on that object and throw the sunrise/sunset out of focus. I don't see it done very often, even when looking through other photographers' work (although I can't say I've made any kind of a thorough search). But I think it can be a very expressive and interesting way to depict a relatively common subject (a sunrise or a sunset). There it is, I just gave away one of my trade secrets.

Later, when there was a bit more light, I also took some closeups of grass. The grass, interestingly enough, reminded me a bit of a Christmas tree, with green and red parts. Grass, like a flower, is difficult to photograph at close range; perhaps even more so because there are more potential points on which to focus, and it mores more easily in the breeze. Most of the pictures I took ended up blurry, even with a tripod. The important thing, though is that some of them did not. The breeze was light enough that, with patience, I could usually wait until it momentarily stopped to get a sharp picture. Anyway, here's my favorite:

And, as I've mentioned before, Magnuson Park is exploding with flowers (and pollen, unfortunately for my nose). Here are a couple good flower shots I took:

I'm not sure if these daisies are native. They might not be; I know that there are invasive daisy species in Washington. I also know that Magnuson Park is home to a lot of other invasive non-native plant species, such as large stands of Scotch broom and Himalayan blackberry. Some parks try to remove these sorts of plants, but I've read in different places that some parks are reluctant to do so as these weeds become so entrenched that their removal would disrupt the ecosystem. This isn't the case with daisies, but in the case of larger non-native shrubs, native birds have sometimes adapted to them and now nest in them. And the thing is, you have to remove these plants quickly and completely to prevent them from spreading back, so my guess is that it's hard to remove them in that manner while also taking care of displaced birds. It's a dilemma!

Well, until next time...