Seasonal Rituals

I like exploring new parks, and new areas inside of parks, as much as the next fellow. But I've realized that I have some places within familiar parks - even specific plants or individual trees - that I visit regularly every time a certain season rolls around. For instance, the red-flowering currant bushes in Twin Ponds Park, usually in March or April. In June/July, the stand of fireweed in Hamlin Park. In early summer, a street with a good sunset view a few blocks from my house. In October/November, the Arboretum, especially the areas to the north along the water.

And, in March or April, a group of trees in the North Bluff area of Discovery Park. I made this pilgrimage yesterday. Mostly, it is to photograph the buds, which look like this:

These patterns of mine stem partially from practical concerns: every year my technical and compositional skills improve (I hope), so I want to have another crack at getting a respectable picture of, or a new take on, a promising subject. In another sense, though, I simply like these pilgrimages. It's nice to return to familiar places to celebrate the beauty of a particular season, and a way for me to feel more in tune with seasonal changes.

Also, it was another day of experimenting with macro backgrounds:

   

I think I like the one with the bluer background. Probably.

There were a couple others worthy of note yesterday. First, the angled afternoon sunlight was making the newly leafed shrubs look almost luminescent, especially in the second of these two. Since the large trees don't have much yet in the way of spring growth, sunlight can still get through to the understory.

Finally, a few salmonberry flowers are starting to pop out. Most of them are still just buds, though, so there'll be more to come.

Twin Ponds macro

Yesterday I went to Twin Ponds in Shoreline, a surprisingly nice park for one so small, and right next to the freeway. As the name suggests, it surrounds two rather large ponds, and consists mostly of wooded area (along with a playground and some sports fields and stuff).

I only shot with my macro lens! I came mostly for the red-flowering currant bushes there. They aren't as far along in blossoming as they were the same time last year, or at least it seems to me. Neither are other trees and shrubs. Oh well, it was kind of the spring gods to wait until winter quarter was done to really get things going.

These three are the most respectable of the lot:

I found it hard to get suitable backgrounds, a surprisingly pesky little problem when shooting macro. Especially at midday on a sunny day (like yesterday), which heightens the contrast and thus distracting elements. For example, this one technically turned out pretty well but has a rather distracting background:

See what I mean? It would have been much cooler without the obtrusive house in the background.

I could have reduced the depth of field even further, but then, less of the bud/blossom cluster would have been in focus. Besides, the stark color changes in the background still would have been apparent. I guess when shooting macro you have to compromise between quality of background, quality of lighting, and quality of subject matter, and take shots that balance all three. Some of the shots I could have taken with better backgrounds yesterday were poorly lit. Likewise, some good subjects would have had even worse backgrounds than the one above.

A few others worthy of note from yesterday:

Weeds Are Beautiful, Ep. 2: Flowers at Dawn

I took this early one morning last summer in Magnuson Park with my macro lens. I think I was also on my belly. I've found through experience that being at or below the level of a flower can really make a picture of it more interesting.

 Some photography self-help books that I've read recommend doing most plant close-ups under overcast lighting. I disagree. To an extent, sunshine can add body and contour to a plant. Moreover, blue sky opens up more compositional possibilities, especially from lower angles. (You can't really do much with an ordinary overcast sky - it just looks bland and washed out in most cases. Imagine this picture with a bland whitish sky.). Finally, the greater amount of light enables a faster shutter speed, so it renders slight breezes less of a problem.

Shooting under sunlight has its pitfalls, to be sure. The higher contrast can get a bit stark, and downward sunlight can create awkward shadows. Shooting closer to dawn or dusk helps avoid these problems, though. (Personally, I prefer morning for this purpose, mainly due to the lighter winds).

As with any good artistic rule, there are plenty of exceptions to my preference for direct-sunlight close-up shooting. Sometimes overcast light can create a more intimate mood in a plant close-up (the next post will be an example of this).

Perhaps it is a good time to give a cursory explanation of my philosophy regarding weeds, since it will recur throughout my posts. I have an odd fascination with weeds, the unsung heroes of the natural world. They produce such a variety of beautiful flowers, seeds, and shapes. God must love weeds, because He made so many different kinds, and they grow everywhere. I know, I know, weeds can choke out garden flowers, and nonnative weeds are destructive to ecosystems...but I still think they're cool!

Weeds Are Beautiful, Episode 1

In other news, I can't wait until fireweed season. They don't call it fireweed for no reason - it often colonizes burn areas, and also logging areas. Before and after it blooms, it looks a bit ratty, but it's so cool when it's in season, usually late June and early July. It has such a striking purple color, and generally grows in stands, which can be quite impressive. This particular shot is from Discovery Park this past July. It was a good evening, despite the many mishaps (for example, crawling around through the tall grass looking for my sunglasses!)

Confession: I also wanted to see how a vertical picture looked on this blog. Apparently it works!