Early Spring at Rockport

Since my last trip (to Deception Pass State Park) had an island-and-meadow feel to it, I wanted this past Saturday's hike to have a forested, closer-to-the-mountains feel. (But not too close - my mind is in full spring mode, and I have no desire to hike in snow again this season.) The old-growth forests of Rockport State Park fit the bill nicely. Working in my favor were light trail traffic (plenty of time to set up a tripod and experiment with a composition), overcast skies, and light winds. Working "against" me, in a way, was the forest environment. Thick forests like that of Rockport can be tricky places to do photography, as landscapes can look busy and cluttered if you don't isolate a clear subject or pattern. I wasn't able to do anything as spectacular as the landscape image I took there last year (see the first image in this post), but I walked away with a few pleasant compositions.

First, Indian plum (Oemleria cerasiformis) leaves in the foreground, with an old tree in the background. F/6.3.

Second, another old tree in lush surroundings. I think this one has a good sense of depth. F/18.

Below is the park's famous "Grandmother Cedar" tree, along the Sauk Springs trail. I don't know whether the trunks are all that visually interesting here, but the size comes across well. F/18.

I also did some closeup work while at Rockport. Below is trillium (Trillium ovatum), a few of which were blooming around the park (it was my girlfriend's observant eye that spotted this one!). F/5.

Next, a salmonberry flower (Rubus spectabilis). This image is decent, but the background is splotchy, so I might try a salmonberry closeup again this spring. F/4.5.

Finally, a flower that I haven't yet been able to identify definitively. Could it be Cardamine nuttallii, Nuttall's toothwort? That's my best guess based on the flowers and what I can see of the stem leaves. It turns out that there are quite a lot of flowers here in Washington that have four small white or whitish-pink petals, and I didn't photograph enough of the plant to be sure. F/4.5.

That's all for today! Happy April, everybody!