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.