Happy as a Larkspur, pt 1

Hello all! It was high time for my first large-scale trip of the spring! Naturally, I headed to Kamiak Butte to look for some wildflowers. I am looking forward to more opportunities to do photography this summer than I've had over the past few months, so stay tuned!

This is the first of two posts about the Kamiak Butte trip; this one focuses on landscapes and other wider images. The second will feature flower closeups. The wildflower display was actually not as impressive as it has been other years; I think I was later in the bloom cycle than I usually have been at this time of year, thanks to a winter with very little snow and an exceptionally warm and dry spring. Still, there were more than enough wildflowers to make for some interesting photographic possibilities! It's worth remembering that, in all of these images (and all of those in the next post), I used a polarizing filter. Even without a blue sky to deepen, polarizing filters go a long way in reducing the glare from leaves and other objects, thus accentuating their colors.

First, an image from just after sunrise. The flowers in the foreground are arrowleaf balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata). The color and lighting can use a bit of work - but that's why I shoot in RAW! I always like the way early morning or late evening sunlight casts shadows that really highlight the contours of the Palouse's rolling hills. F/20.

Below is a meadow along the West End Primitive Trail. I was contemplating making an image of it when the band of light you see below emerged from between some trees. This, I thought, added interest to the scene; since the light was diffused by trees and still relatively early, the contrast wasn't too high. The flowers are again arrowleaf balsamroot; I used an aperture of f/20 for depth of field.

Next is an evening view from the Butte's summit, with paintbrush in the foreground (genus Castilleja). This shot was rather difficult to accomplish; I stopped down all the way to f/29 to maximize depth of field. Unfortunately, even at ISO 500, the shutter speed was 1/6 of a second - an eternity in breezy conditions. There was no alternative but to wait for opportune lulls in the breeze; below is the best result.

Below is an image that I think captures the meeting of worlds that occurs at Kamiak Butte - the lush forest of the north slope with the drier Palouse lowlands, as well as nature and agriculture. Upon reflection, I think this vantage point, with the rocks, trees, and rolling hills, might also be interesting under snow cover...noted. I shot this image at f/18.

Below is an image with a similar concept; I really liked the flowering trees and wanted to juxtapose them against the view in some way. I'd have to play with the contrast and white balance a bit to better bring out the faint morning sunlight that was hitting the fields. To get all of this in focus, I went all the way down to F/32.

Below are our friend the paintbrush again, just after sunrise. I got them to look big in the frame due to my use of my wide-angle lens and positioning of the lens rather close to the paintbrush; that approach tends to accentuate the foreground and make background objects appear smaller in the frame. Again, I would want to play with the color and contrast to bring out the sunlight hitting the fields. F/32 for maximum depth of field.

And, finally, some aspen along the trail that parallels the road, at f/14.