Middle Fork Moods

My last two photography trips were both to trails along the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River, but with very different results due to the weather. My most recent outing was to the Oxbow Loop Trail under bright sunshine and clear skies. The first image shows one of the mountain views from that trail. I like how the yellow-green color of spring growth comes through clearly. It was also a somewhat hazy morning, and I like how the mountain almost becomes a silhouette in this picture. F/14.

Next, Pacific bleeding heart (Dicentra formosa) out in full force along the Oxbow Loop. The sunlight coming through the forest made the contrast a bit tricky. It helps that the in-focus flowers in the foreground are fully shaded; if sunlit, their overexposed highlights would have been less attractive. The bright highlights in the out-of-focus background aren't as much of an issue. F/5.

In the next one, I tried something a little different with the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River. Usually when I take pictures of rivers and other moving water, I use long shutter speeds to get a blurred/silky look. This time, I used a short shutter speed - 1/320 of a second - to freeze the water's motion. To accomplish this, I had to use a wider aperture (F/5.6), which is why only the foreground rocks are in focus. I'm not thrilled with how dark the background is, but I still thinks this image is interesting overall.

Next, red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa) blooming, with a peek-a-boo mountain view in the background. F/5.6.

Finally from the Oxbow Loop, a wider-angle shot of the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River, with red alder leaves in the foreground. The image quality ended up okay, considering the high contrast. This is a decent "rough draft" but if I were ever to print this, I think I'd go back to the RAW file and tinker a little bit more with the lighting and white balance. F/16.

Before the Oxbow Loop trip, I hiked the Middle Fork Snoqualmie trail on a rather rainy day. There weren't many dry breaks for pictures, but during one of them, I found this nice cluster of salmonberry flowers. I like the deep pink, and the out-of-focus mossy tree at left. F/7.1.

Finally, during another brief dry break, a view looking uphill at some shrubs with new growth (huckleberry?) and the forest beyond. The bushes aren't as distinct from everything else as they seemed in person, but the sense of depth works well. F/16.