North Cascades part 1: Wildflowers

I just returned from a little camping trip in the North Cascades Highway area. This post will feature some wildflower closeups I did, and the next one will feature the landscapes. With the exception of the first image, all of the flowers in this post are from the Maple Pass Loop trail, which begins at Rainy Pass.

First is pipsissewa (Chimaphila umbellata), near the Klipchuck campground on the east slopes. I'm not sure whether I like how everything is placed here; the out-of-focus bud in dead center is particularly unfortunate. My attempts at other angles, however, were unsuccessful: since this flower's height was in the gap between the coverage of my tripods, I had my small tripod set up on a little pile of dead branches that I gathered up. Hardly a recipe for maximum sharpness. This was the only one acceptably sharp. F/4.5.

Here is Western anemone (Anemone occidentalis), also known as pasqueflower. I really liked the look of the leaves and wanted to get them into the composition. F/5.

Here is white-flowered rhododendron (Rhododendron albiflorum). F/3.3.

Below is what I believe to be Veronica cusickii, or Cusick's speedwell. F/5.

Below is what I believe to be swamp laurel (Kalmia microphylla). F/4.5.

Finally, a paintbrush (genus Castilleja). I was taken by the yellowish-green coloring on some of the bracts (I think). F/5.