Saturday, April 29, 2023

Spring on the Sauk

A couple weeks ago, I made a trip to the Old Sauk River Trail near Darrington, an early-season favorite of mine. Even though a lot of spring growth in western Washington has been late to appear due to the cold weather, I was able to find some nice scenes with some patience and careful looking.

First, Pacific bleeding heart (Dicentra formosa) just beginning to bloom on the forest floor. The brownish background consists of a typical early-spring assortment of sticks and leaf litter. I like how I was able to get that color to come through clearly, and hence the early-spring feel, without making the background busy. F/4.

Next, a newly opened trillium flower (Trillium ovatum). F/4.

On my last trip, I took some pictures of colorful huckleberry foliage. Here's a better composition along those lines, including a flower bud as well. Due to better weather, I had less wind and a lot more time to work with, enabling me to do a better job. I'm pretty confident that it is a huckleberry (genus Vaccinium), but less so of the species. F/5.

Here's an actual huckleberry flower (genus Vaccinium; again, I'm not quite confident which species). F/5.6.

The forest-floor shot below features bleeding heart leaves and a fern (I don't know what kind) unfurling. It's different, but I think I like it. F/4.5.

Next, the Sauk River. F/18, 1/8 of a second.

Lastly, a view from the short Beaver Lake trail, which is very near the Old Sauk Trail. The best parts of the Beaver Pond trail - bridges and boardwalk through wetlands, followed by some old-growth forest - are now inaccessible due to bridge damage. Still, I got this nice landscape of a swampy area prior to the closure. I like the spring growth in the foreground. F/16.


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