Spring is here!

Buds and leaves are starting to appear on some shrubs and other plants in the area. Indian plum (Oemleria cerasiformis), which I try to find every spring, is one of the most most conspicuous and widespread native early bloomers in the Puget lowlands.

Here is some new growth that I found on one such shrub in Saint Edward State Park yesterday. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this composition, particularly the line of the trunk between the two buds. I used an aperture of f/11 - I wanted the shapes of the mossy trunks at right to be somewhat discernible. I accomplished this to the degree I wanted, but this resulted in additional clutter like that other trunk. On the positive note, I think the lighting turned out well.

That's all for now. It needed to be a short trip, and the sunshine limited my possibilities. I am looking forward the rest of this spring!

Snow day!

I took advantage of our little snowfall yesterday to visit Boeing Creek Park in Shoreline. As is typical around the greater Seattle area, the park is mostly second-growth. There are a handful of older Douglas firs, however, in and around the ravine of Boeing Creek. I'm not sure why they were never cut, but it could have to do with the steep and unstable geography there. It seems that there's a new washout, or change in the course of Boeing Creek, every time I visit. Anyway, these trees - along with the volatile geography - lend a welcome element of wildness to the park.

For most of my time there, snow was either falling from the sky or melting from tree branches. This posed a challenge to my workflow, as I had to operate a camera, tripod, and umbrella at the same time, while ensuring all the gear in my backpack stayed dry. Thankfully, due to hard lessons learned on other trips, I succeeded at keeping all the important stuff (camera gear, batteries, etc) moisture-free.

Anyway, this first one highlights the trunks of a couple of the aforementioned old Doug firs. F/20.

Second, a view of some trunks and branches that I believe belong to bigleaf maple trees. With some proper lighting and contrast adjustment, I could probably make the green colors of the moss and epiphytes stand out a bit more, strengthening the composition. F/20.

Finally, a shot in which I tried to capture the snow falling. I used a shutter speed of 1/80 second, and in retrospect, I should have used one just a bit quicker to freeze the snowflakes a bit more precisely. Still, they're discernible here, and some lighting and contrast work would probably help a bit. The image also might look better printed and at a more appropriate size.

That's all for now. Hopefully, I'll be posting something more spring-oriented on this blog in the near future - wildflower season begins early in the Puget Sound lowlands, mid-February in some spots.