My destination yesterday was Fields Spring State Park, which I think marks the beginning of Blue Mountains topography. Even on a nice Saturday, the campground was half-full at best and hardly anyone else was on the trails. (Just try getting that within an equivalent distance of Seattle!) The hike to Puffer Butte within the park is short, and the forest isn't all that interesting, largely because the understory is very dense and kind of scraggly (although the service roads give better views of the forest proper, something to remember for any return trip).
But that's not why you hike to Puffer Butte - you make the hike for the views (and wildflowers if you're there in the spring). You can see down into the dramatic Grande Ronde River canyon, look at parts of the Snake River canyon and, if the weather's right, catch a far-off glimpse of the Wallowa Mountains (they were faintly visible yesterday, but did not show up very well in photographs).
Given the nature of the hike, then, most of these images are variations on a theme, so bear with me. All were taken at wide apertures - in fact, all of the images in this post were shot at f/22, because I wanted everything in focus in all cases. The sunny weather played a bit of havoc with my metering, so a fair number of the shots are a bit underexposed, but not too badly.
The first pair looks at the view with some grasses and spent flowers in the foreground. I thought that would add some depth, as well as creating a very late-summer, desert-y sort of mood. These are both basically the same angle, but at different tripod heights and focal lengths. The second was shot lower and at a slightly wider focal length. The first places more emphasis on the view; the second highlights the dried-up flowers in the foreground. I'm not sure which I like better; they each tell a different story.
The next image incorporates the sky into the composition. I really liked the billowy clouds that were all over the sky, and wanted to put those against the view. The polarizing filter really helped in this case, deepening the blue sky and, thus, bringing out the clouds.
In the next, a sagebrush-like plant (genus Artemisia?) fills up the foreground. In this case, I used a graduated neutral-density filter to darken the sky. I think that it's ultimately overdone, but that's an easier problem to deal with than having it overexposed!
Next, I noticed a little spot in the midst of the butte's dry face that had an aspen tree and some little shrubs. I am not sure why this oasis exists as such, but I thought it would be interesting to juxtapose it against the ridges and canyons beyond. The contrast and white balance look a bit odd, but I think it's an interesting composition; white balance and contrast can be improved.
The next image is not as striking as the others, but I posted it because I think it highlights a cool aspect of the view from Puffer Butte - look closely at the lower right and you can see the Grand Ronde River snaking through its canyon. Quite a ways down!
Below is the one image I walked away with from the forest. Check out the wolf lichen! It was all over this Ponderosa pine. It was a more greenish hue than shows up in this image.
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