Ira Spring Trail

Recently I hiked the Ira Spring trail off of I-90. It was a summer Saturday, so it was quite the popular place! Not at 6am, of course, but soon thereafter. I also enjoyed some brief hours of shade lighting and (and coolness) before the sun came around the hillside. Note that almost all of my best pictures were taken in the shade.

The real highlight of the hike was the profuse flowers along the way. The views were nice, of course, but most of the surrounding mountains weren't all that snowy anymore, and sometimes defaced by logging and roads. I tried to get some new perspectives on some of the usual suspects (tiger lily, paintbrush, lupine).

This was my best of tiger lily. Cropped, it might seem more intimate and be a bit more interesting. I was able to capture some symmetry, as well, which is always nice. I've realized that I don't do enough symmetry; I'll be attempting more of it in the coming weeks if all goes as planned.

Next come the explosive bracts of scarlet paintbrush (the red parts are not actually the flower, apparently). The first of this pair is the best - again, a symmetrical composition.

Finally, lupine. I am not going to bother to try to identify which species right now. I wanted to get a unique perspective on a blooming lupine, with the leaf arrangements expanding in the background. This was my best, although I'll certainly be playing with this compositional idea in the future.

Now, introducing a flower new to this blog: beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax)! These two were my best compositions involving the flower. In the second one, the background lines are pretty well unified, although the picture could've stood a narrower depth of field. Oh well. Next time.

Unfortunately, as is often the case on dry summer days, harsh midday lighting was quickly upon me. It was lovely to see and feel, with warm sunlight flooding the meadows, but put a virtual end to my picture taking. I did, however, squeeze this last one out (Rainier is the mountain in the background). I wish I had tried a wider depth of field (to get the mountain in focus), but I still like it. The composition is nice and simple. Perhaps the narrow depth of field helps keep the attention on the flowers.