Green River Extravaganza pt. 2

The second part of my day involved a trip to Kanaskat-Palmer State Park, which is near Flaming Geyser State Park. Overall, I didn't find it to be as scenic as Flaming Geyser, mostly because the forest is drier and a bit scraggly. That said, it still has its nice moments, and there are frequent views of the Green River as it enters the gorge.

This first image happened while a bit of sunlight was still peeking through the treetops, illuminating the trunks and leaves in the foreground. I focused on the trunks and used f/8 - I didn't want to blur them too much, but I wanted the foreground leaves to be out of focus. In the upper right you can see one of the riverside cliffs; much of the river looked like this. A shutter speed of 1/3 second blurred the water a bit. I would have preferred more, but I had to prioritize aperture in this case.

Next, we have some alder trunks in the foreground, with a cottonwood just beginning to leaf out in the background. I used f/22 so that I could have the foreground and background trees all in focus. This meant a shutter speed of 1.3 seconds, which blurred the water nicely.

The next image features some new cottonwood leaves, with a different cottonwood trunk in the background (and, of course, the river). Despite the selective-focus appearance, I used f/22, because I wanted the tree, river, and background leaves to all be recognizable.

Below is an alder hanging on for dear life on one of the cliffs surrounding the Green River. I think this image might be more dramatic later in the year, when there are leaves on the alder and you can tell it's alive. (It is alive; if you look closely, it has lots of catkins already). I used an exposure time of 1.3 seconds to blur the water.