Lighthouse Point

This morning, before it rained, I headed up to Deception Pass State Park to find some wildflowers. All of the pictures here are from the Lighthouse Point area, which has everything - rocky headlands, flower meadows, and nice forests.

The first image is my favorite composition from the trip, with camas flowers in the foreground. Image quality, particularly sharpness, was a problem here - I was using my small tripod all closed up as a monopod, basically, and had that set on another small piece of gear to get the exact height I needed. With an exposure time of 1/15 second, this made getting things sharp a challenge. To make matters worse, the breeze was kicking up at the time. The one I've posted here is the best and might be workable (I'll have to play around in Lightroom to be sure). F/25.

Next, a closeup of camas with an anther set as the focus point. F/6.3.

Next, two forest landscapes from Lighthouse Point. The first has budding salal in the foreground, which I wanted to juxtapose against the lichen-draped forest. The second has less of a foreground, but I still thought the interesting trunk and branch shapes might be worth capturing.  F/22 in both cases.

Finally, some very new growth on what I think is a Douglas fir, with water and cliffs and such in the background. F/22.

Spring Break part 3 - Kamiak Butte

I spent the third part of my travels in the Palouse region of Washington. My big destination was Kamiak Butte County Park, north of Pullman. The flowers are late there this year due to the cold and wet weather this winter and spring. The upshot of my visit, however, was a profusion of early flowers such as grass widow in the meadows and trillium and lilies in the forests.

First, two landscapes showing the abundant grass widow (Olsynium douglasii) on the ridge and around the summit. F/22 in both cases.

Next, some flower closeups. First is Pacific trillium, Trillium ovatum. F/3.5.

Next is a lily, probably Erythronium grandiflorum. F/5.6.

Finally, a paintbrush just beginning to bloom (genus Castilleja). F/6.3.

Next is another closeup, not of a flower but some new growth on what I think is western meadowrue, Thalictrum occidentale. F/3.8.

Finally, a couple more experimental shots. The first is a forest-floor view of some new growth, which I photographed with my wide lens (F/5.3). The second shows opening arrowleaf balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata) with the colors of the Palouse in the background for a tonal and horizontal contrast (F/11).

That's all for now. Here's hoping for more fun adventures this spring and summer!

Spring Break part 2 - Scablands

After visiting the Columbia Gorge, I spent some time hiking around Hog and Fishtrap lakes near Spokane - a quite different environment, on the transition between the pine forests of the Spokane area and the drier Columbia Plateau. I don't know that my results here were as interesting as those from the Gorge, but the greenness of the open areas and the stark cliffs around the lake still helped me get a few decent images - from Hog Lake, that is. I wasn't pleased with my results from the Fishtrap area and won't be posting any.

Below is probably my most dramatic composition involving Hog Lake itself. F/22.

The next image shows another interesting feature of the terrain around Hog Lake, as well as elsewhere in the Channelled Scablands near Spokane - the contrast between dry sagebrush vegetation and the lush growth around ponds, lakes, and wetlands. The trees in the background are primarily aspen. F/22.

Below are three more compositions with Hog Lake itself. The first shows a golden currant (Ribes aureum) in bloom. F/22 in all cases.

Finally, a view of the nearby waterfall. I don't find this composition all that thrilling, although some work on lighting and contrast might save it. F/22.

Spring Break part 1 - Columbia Gorge

I recently returned from a trip to the Columbia Gorge and eastern Washington.  I had the week off from work, and wanted to catch wildflower season. Here is the first post, focusing on my day in the Gorge. I'm working on getting the plant identifications nailed down; for some in this post, the genus name will need to suffice for the time being. Perhaps I'll come back and edit this post. I've resolved in the past to be better about ID-ing plants in the field, but I'm still surprisingly sloppy about it. I get too caught up in the compositions themselves, as well as the logistics of the trip, to ID plants in a consistent way.

Anyway, here goes!

Starvation Creek Falls

While I was traveling, I stopped off the interstate at Starvation Creek State Park in Oregon. This marks my first ever time doing photography in Oregon! I had seen a waterfall there on a map, so I decided to check it out. It's not my favorite composition ever - I don't like how the waterfall is dead center - but I thought I'd post it anyway, as it was such a pretty spot. The consequences of our crazy winter were visible - there was still snow piled up in a few spots near the creek. F/22, 0.8 seconds.

Catherine Creek Universal Access Trail

My first destination during my day in the Gorge was the accessible Catherine Creek Trail near White Salmon. In addition to wildflowers, it has good views of the Columbia and its surroundings. The next image shows the general lay of the land. Camas (Camassia quamash) is the prominent blue/purple flower in the foreground. F/29.

Here is a similar shot of desert parsley (genus Lomatium) with camas growing farther back. F/25.

Here is a closeup of camas just beginning to open. I was drawn by the pink sea blush (Plectritis congesta) in the background; I thought it would lend some interesting color contrast to the image. F/3.3.

Here is a closeup of death camas (genus Toxicoscordion, probably Toxicoscordion venenosum), with shooting star in the background. F/3.8.

Catherine Creek

After exploring the Universal Access Trail, I spent some time wandering around the other trails in the Catherine Creek area, north of the road. The first image features a patch of prairie star (genus Lithophragma, probably Lithophragma parviflorum). I liked how they contrasted with the bare trees beyond. F/22.

Here is a view from farther uphill, with shooting star and death camas in the meadow and the Columbia in the distance. This one needs some contrast work to make the background stand out a bit more. F/22.

Here is a serviceberry in bloom (Amelanchier alnifolia) with the valley of Catherine Creek in the background. I like this composition, although I might have to work on contrast and color to make the trees and cliffs in the background stand out a bit. F/22.

The following pair of images show camas with the Columbia and surroundings in the distance. I think I like the second image better, although the image quality of the background isn't fantastic. But I've had success with images of a similar quality in the past. We'll see. F/25 in both cases.

Here's a closeup of a flower I hadn't ever seen (or noticed) before. I believe it is Orobanche uniflora. F/4.2.

Finally, a view of the rock arch near Catherine Creek. It's visible from the trail, although it's fenced off. I'm not terribly thrilled by this composition - I think the trees make it too busy - but the arch is still a cool feature. F/20.

Coyote Wall

In the afternoon, I headed over to the nearby Coyote Wall trail network. First is a view of the Columbia River from one of these trails. F/22.

Here is a particularly Edenic scene from the Little Maui trail, with flowers, opening trees, and a creek. The area really does look this nice in person. F/29.

Finally, two views of Coyote Wall itself, which is apparently a basalt formation. I'm not sure whether I like the vertical or horizontal composition here better. With both, I think the use of space in the composition is not ideal, but I spent some time looking for vantage points and considering compositions, and these were my best results. One challenge I faced was depth of field; even with narrow apertures, I still had trouble getting the foreground flowers and distant portions of the Wall to be in focus. Again, these were my best results. Like a lot of the other landscapes I've posted thus far, they need some contrast work. F/25 in both cases.

Drizzly Day in the Woods

Happy April! A few days ago, I had a nice romp in the drizzle and mud at Flaming Geyser State Park.  With new determination - and some gear that I rediscovered, having lost track of it in frequent moves over the last few years - I managed to keep my gear dry. I didn't even lose any compositions to water streaks, as I was able to keep my lens-cleaning cloths dry and clean.

Flaming Geyser State Park offers relatively non-strenuous trails through pleasant, mossy forest, and an array of flowering shrubs and herbs. It's also a place to catch a glimpse of the Green River gorge (none of my compositions involving the gorge walls turned out, unfortunately), one of the few where you can do so on public land with developed access. If you visit, note that the "flaming geyser" is no longer lit. The "bubbling geyser" is interesting but rather small and visually unimpressive. The forest and the river are the real treats.

On to my pictures. First, some budding Scouler's corydalis (Corydalis scouleri). F/5.6.

Next, some Indian plum by a tributary creek of the Green River. I don't like how the creek/forest line here is close to midpoint; otherwise, this one turned out rather well, particularly the colors. F/10.

Next, some more landscape-type images. First, a more mature patch of forest on a spur from the River Trail. F/20.

This one needs some contrast work, but I think I like the framing. F/22.

Another forest landscape, not quite as interesting as the earlier one, but it still works, and clearly communicates an early-spring feel. F/20.

Finally, some images whose quality I'm less sure about but thought were worth posting and thinking about. First, some salmonberry flowers and buds with forest shapes in the background. F/9.

Another similar one, with mossy trees and the river in the background. F/9.

Finally, two views of mossy maple trees during a period of heavier rain early in the morning. I had most of my gear stashed in a picnic shelter, and would set up my tripod, go back to the picnic shelter, take my camera back to the tripod under an umbrella. Time-consuming but it worked! (I used the same method out in the woods later in the day, using more mature conifers for dry shelter). It'd be interesting to see how these images look after some lighting work has been done in Lightroom. F/18.