Spring Break part 2 - Scablands

After visiting the Columbia Gorge, I spent some time hiking around Hog and Fishtrap lakes near Spokane - a quite different environment, on the transition between the pine forests of the Spokane area and the drier Columbia Plateau. I don't know that my results here were as interesting as those from the Gorge, but the greenness of the open areas and the stark cliffs around the lake still helped me get a few decent images - from Hog Lake, that is. I wasn't pleased with my results from the Fishtrap area and won't be posting any.

Below is probably my most dramatic composition involving Hog Lake itself. F/22.

The next image shows another interesting feature of the terrain around Hog Lake, as well as elsewhere in the Channelled Scablands near Spokane - the contrast between dry sagebrush vegetation and the lush growth around ponds, lakes, and wetlands. The trees in the background are primarily aspen. F/22.

Below are three more compositions with Hog Lake itself. The first shows a golden currant (Ribes aureum) in bloom. F/22 in all cases.

Finally, a view of the nearby waterfall. I don't find this composition all that thrilling, although some work on lighting and contrast might save it. F/22.

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.

Drizzly Day in the Woods

Happy April! A few days ago, I had a nice romp in the drizzle and mud at Flaming Geyser State Park.  With new determination - and some gear that I rediscovered, having lost track of it in frequent moves over the last few years - I managed to keep my gear dry. I didn't even lose any compositions to water streaks, as I was able to keep my lens-cleaning cloths dry and clean.

Flaming Geyser State Park offers relatively non-strenuous trails through pleasant, mossy forest, and an array of flowering shrubs and herbs. It's also a place to catch a glimpse of the Green River gorge (none of my compositions involving the gorge walls turned out, unfortunately), one of the few where you can do so on public land with developed access. If you visit, note that the "flaming geyser" is no longer lit. The "bubbling geyser" is interesting but rather small and visually unimpressive. The forest and the river are the real treats.

On to my pictures. First, some budding Scouler's corydalis (Corydalis scouleri). F/5.6.

Next, some Indian plum by a tributary creek of the Green River. I don't like how the creek/forest line here is close to midpoint; otherwise, this one turned out rather well, particularly the colors. F/10.

Next, some more landscape-type images. First, a more mature patch of forest on a spur from the River Trail. F/20.

This one needs some contrast work, but I think I like the framing. F/22.

Another forest landscape, not quite as interesting as the earlier one, but it still works, and clearly communicates an early-spring feel. F/20.

Finally, some images whose quality I'm less sure about but thought were worth posting and thinking about. First, some salmonberry flowers and buds with forest shapes in the background. F/9.

Another similar one, with mossy trees and the river in the background. F/9.

Finally, two views of mossy maple trees during a period of heavier rain early in the morning. I had most of my gear stashed in a picnic shelter, and would set up my tripod, go back to the picnic shelter, take my camera back to the tripod under an umbrella. Time-consuming but it worked! (I used the same method out in the woods later in the day, using more mature conifers for dry shelter). It'd be interesting to see how these images look after some lighting work has been done in Lightroom. F/18.

From the Archives: Eclipse

You may remember the lunar eclipse in September 2015. I went out to photograph that event, at a vantage point along a dirt road overlooking the Palouse River canyon and surrounding hills. The image quality isn't perfect, and neither are the compositions; for that reason, I never posted my pictures at the time. On revisiting them, however, I think it might be worth it to play with them in Lightroom and see how I can get them to look. It will take some sensitive noise reduction, dust spot removal (I hadn't cleaned my image sensor yet), and lighting/contrast work.

It's easy for me to make mistaken assessments of the quality of my images, in either direction. In the case of images I don't like, I can get so distracted by the difference from the ideal I had in mind that I end up not wanting to share or use the product, even though it might still be passable. On the other hand, sometimes I think an image is better than it actually is - I am too proud of the fact that I found a given subject or hiked a certain trail in the first place, or I am otherwise distracted by some narrative dimension of the subject, to notice that the image isn't really that great and shouldn't see the light of day.

First, a view of the eclipse itself:

Next, the moon just after rising, at an earlier stage of the eclipse. It's closer to the horizon than I'd like, compositionally speaking, but the sky color was best at this moment.

Finally, a view of the Palouse River canyon from before the moon rose.

Despite my frustrations, I still had a great time while I was out. There's nothing quite like being outside to watch (and hear - crickets!) night fall in a remote place. I wasn't in the wilderness per se; there were cultivated fields immediately at my back. But it was still a more remote part of the Palouse, and there wasn't a soul anywhere near.

Anyway, I'll be working on processing these. Stay tuned.

First Trip of Spring

Happy Spring! It's now official, and what's more, yesterday was the first day that really felt like like spring to me: the sights of the woods starting to green up, the smells of freshly mown lawns and new growth, the sounds of motorcycles on their first rides of the year. To celebrate the season, I took a little jaunt over to Saint Edward State Park for some spring scenery.

First, a closeup of some Indian plum flowers (Oemleria cerasiformis). I think this is one of my best of these flowers. F/5.6.

The next close up is one of red elderberry, or Sambucus racemosa, just beginning to open. I like the sense of depth I was able to achieve with this; also, the vertical leaves look a bit like upraised arms. F/4.5.

Here are some more Indian plum flowers with a mossy cottonwood trunk in the background. F/3.5.

Here's one with a wide depth of field, with Indian plum leaves and flowers in the foreground. This one was difficult to pull off, due both to the depth of field and timing the shot to a moment when the leaves were all still. The final product is a bit busy, but reasonably successful. It might look less busy enlarged and printed. F/25.

Finally, some new leaves with the mossy forest in the background. At this particular vantage point - for the entire hike, really - I was taken by the bright and almost luminescent appearance of the new growth, which the filtered sunshine helped to accentuate. F/5.6.

Guillemot Cove

On Saturday, I had the good fortune to be on the Kitsap Peninsula. A park that had struck my eye when looking at hiking guides was the Guillemot Cove Nature Reserve, on Hood Canal and around Boyce Creek. It has lush forests, some wetlands and meadows, and a beach with a view of the Olympics. I'm hoping to go back, perhaps later in the spring when there is more foliage and hopefully less mud.

Below is a view of the mossy forest along the Sawmill Trail. Also featured here is the evergreen shrubbery, of which there is a lot in the Reserve. F/22.

Next, two images from the marshes and wetlands near the beach. Boyce Creek was running high, as you can imagine given our recent weather. I wanted an image showing this, as well as the greening up of some of the grass. Compositionally speaking, I think I like the vertical one better, but I thought I would post both. I used and exposure time of half a second to blur the water's motion.

Although most of the Reserve consists of second-growth forest, there are a few older cedar and maple trees here and there. Here is a view of one such spot. It needs some lighting work, but it's actually not bad for a sunny-day image. F/22.

Lastly, another forest composition. I'm not sure how I feel about it, as it's somewhat cluttered. But I like how the lighting illuminates the mossy branches/trunks and the new leaves. F/22.

Spring and Second Chances

Spring in western Washington is off to a slow start thus far, due to the cold, cloudy weather in which we've been mired. In spite of all of this, buds and flowers are starting to show, both in gardens and in the woods.

Garden

First, the crocus are opening up in the yard! F/4.2.

Next, a garden flower I don't recognize. F/4.2.

Saint Edward State Park

About a week ago, I made a return trip to Saint Edward State Park to take another shot at the Indian plum buds and leaves. First, some new growth coming up from a branch coated with moss and lichen. F/3.5.

Second, a shot of new growth, very similar to a composition that I included in my last post. Things aren't proportioned quite as well, but the image is a lot cleaner and the new growth is closer to the lens and thus more prominent in the frame. Some tasteful editing in Lightroom will help accentuate the forest shapes in the background. F/10.

Finally, some flowers starting to poke out! The image quality here isn't that great - my macro lens seems to perform rather poorly at narrow apertures (F/25 in this case). I'm also not sure about the spider webs; they may be a bit of a distraction. Still, it may be worth a second look or an edit at some point.