The Many Moods of Salmonberry and Currant

Yesterday was quite the day! As you can probably imagine, I did not expect the weather to be as nice as it was. The warmth and sunshine put me in rather good spirits; I even broke out shorts for the afternoon, first time this year!

I visited Meadowdale Beach Park to see if I could still catch some salmonberry flowers. Indeed, there were many, especially along the lower portions of the trail. The alder and maple trees have yet to leaf out, so everything was very bright.

Here is my best close-up. I think this is one of my best yet of a salmonberry flower. It's sharp in the right places, and the background isn't too intrusive.

Another good close-up was this of a red-flowering currant bush toward the beginning of the trail. I kind of like the dark background, it makes the picture look a bit moody, and highlights the flowers:

I also captured a few other interesting shots of salmonberry flowers - not as close-up, but some interesting compositions. I used a narrower aperture/wider depth of field than I sometimes do in macro shots because, in all cases, I wanted the background to have some definition and be part of the composition.

That last one could use some remedial rotation - the tree wasn't perfectly vertical to begin with, but it would make for a better composition.