Memorial Weekend part 2

Here are the pictures from the second half of my trip to Fields Spring State Park last weekend. The landscape images here, as in the last post, will generally need some careful editing to get the sky colors and contrast right. Nevertheless, I was pretty pleased with how they turned out.

But first, a flower closeup. This is Brown's peony (Paeonia brownii), one of only two species of peony native to the U.S. F/4.5.

Next are two early-morning meadow views. The first uses a wide aperture, F/4, for a blurred background. The second uses a narrow aperture, F/22, for an opposite effect.

Next, an afternoon view from near the summit of Puffer Butte. I was attracted to the way the paintbrush at bottom right and the cloud at top left balanced each other. F/22. I was worried that I'd need to use a graduated neutral density filter, but it turned out not to be necessary.

Next, a landscape with some balsamroot flowers in the foreground (bottom right), with a flowery slope behind them and the Wallowa Mountains visible in the distance.

Next, two early morning canyon views, both at F/18. If you look closely at the first one, you can see a bend in the Grande Ronde river at center left.

Finally, another afternoon view with cumulus clouds. The white flowers in the foreground are prairie star. F/22.