"Study" trips

Hello again! Despite the busyness associated with the winding down of grad school, I've managed to squeeze out a few photographic ventures during the last few weeks. Many of the images in this post came from what I like to call "hybrid" trips to parks - trips in which I took my books and homework as well as my camera, using photography as a break of sorts. This works in the spring when there are wildflowers - i.e. photographic subjects that are relatively simple to find - and I can thus find something to photograph in a relatively short amount of time.

We'll start things off with a view inside Rose Creek Nature Preserve north of Pullman, with balsamroot in the foreground. I used F/22 for a wide depth of field. The lighting and the white balance need some work, but I like it compositionally. I think the trees, including the aspen at the upper left, help balance the flowers in the foreground. The image really shows the lush character of the Rose Creek preserve, as well as the contrast between the thick brush/tree cover near the creek and the drier meadows uphill.

Next is some grass widow (Olsynium douglasii) on Kamiak Butte. I was intrigued in this case by the filtered lighting that was falling on the flowers against the dark green background. There's a bit of glare on one of the petals, but overall, I think the image works. F/4.5.

Here is a closeup of lemonweed (Lithospermum ruderale). This one was at Rose Creek. I've tried to photograph lemonweed before, but didn't get nearly as striking of a composition. F/3.5.

Fendler's waterleaf (Hydrophyllum fendleri) also grows in Rose Creek Nature Preserve. The Palouse is on the dry side for Fendler's waterleaf, but the preserve is boggy enough by the creek for them to survive (or even thrive - their foliage is so thick that it almost blocks the trail in some places). F/4.2.

Next are two landscapes from the Deep Creek Canyon in Riverside State Park (Spokane area). The first one was a bit risky due to the harsh back lighting. Using my hand to shield the lens and a polarizing filter to cut some of the glare, though, I made it work. The biggest problem with the composition, ultimately, is not the lighting but the lack of a close foreground. Even so, I think it's interesting. In Lightroom, I'd want to adjust the white balance a bit to bring out the green. As it is, the yellow-green of the new leaves got a bit lost.

Next are three images of balsamroot flowers just beginning to open. The first one is my favorite; the middle one probably my least, due to the background clutter created by leaves and stems. First one: F/4.5.

F/3.3

F/3.8.

Here's a flower that's new to me; I believe it's Synthyris missurica, or mountain kittentails, although I'm not completely sure. I found them growing in some of the wood areas of Kamiak Butte. F/3.5.

Lastly, just for fun, is some more grass widow with the slopes of Kamiak Butte and the Palouse in the background. I am not particularly pleased with the washed out bluish-white of the sky, so I don't imagine I'd be inclined to use or display this one. F/9.

Hopefully I'll be able to both go out and blog more often in the coming weeks. I'd like to get back to Rose Creek Nature Preserve when the cow parsnip is blooming - I could sure smell it.