Closeups at O'Grady

Over the weekend, I hiked through the O'Grady unit of the Green River Natural Area to look for wildflowers. I was last there relatively recently, in early February, but what a difference a month and a half makes! The trails are now full of new green growth and the sounds of birdsong. I was indeed able to find some wildflowers to photograph, and I'll start the post with those. First, trillium (Trillium ovatum), just after a rain shower. F/6.3. I thought about a wider aperture to blur more of the background, but stopping down just a touch preserved more clarity in the raindrops, which was the effect I wanted.

Next, salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis) in sunlight that was filtered by high clouds. Any sunnier and the highlights would have been too harsh, but I think it ended up just right, and the backlighting of the flower petals is a nice effect. F/4.5.

There weren't many bleeding hearts (Dicentra formosa) out yet, but I did find a few just starting to open. Here's one such plant. I typically try to avoid including too much detail from the forest floor, as the background can get pretty busy, but I think it works here. Rain was falling while I took this picture, and the raindrops kept hitting the buds and causing them to move, so this one took a bit of patience. F/6.3.

Next, salmonberry buds. I like how they fade out of focus; that creates a good sense of depth. F/5.6.

I also used my macro lens on some scenes that weren't conventional wildflower shots. Here's a view of willow catkins, with the Green River in the background. I'm not good at identifying willows from their catkins, but I'd guess that this is Sitka willow (Salix sitchensis) based on other pictures that I've seen. F/9.

Next, new growth on a salmonberry plant, with the mossy forest in the background. F/11.

Finally, raindrops on some new growth on the forest floor; I'm not sure what plant this is. F/5.

Can you tell that I love spring?

Starting Spring Properly

Over the weekend, I hiked to Goose Rock in Deception Pass State Park, a reliable place to see wildflowers throughout the spring. The summit was windy and cold, but conditions were good otherwise, and I had some success with wildflower closeups in more sheltered places. I tried my hand at a couple landscapes as well, but they ended up rather pale and uninteresting. I've had this problem at Deception Pass before when taking landscape shots of the coastal environment. Why? It's not like Deception Pass is a pale or colorless place; far from it. I think it's because I tend to visit Deception Pass on cloudy spring days. While overcast conditions are ideal for wildflower photography, they make for a washed-out and uninteresting sky - ditto for the reflections from the water. Perhaps it'd be worth making a separate visit to the area, closer to sunrise or sunset on a blue-sky day, for landscape photography.

Anyway, here is my favorite: red-flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum), with leaves and lichen in the background. F/5.6.

Next, small-flowered blue-eyed Mary (Collinsia parviflora), with moss and grass visible in the background. F/5.6. I tried this at a wider aperture for a narrower depth of field, but the grass shapes weren't clear enough, and I wasn't happy with the focus point.

Sunshine at Skookum Flats

On Saturday, I hiked the Skookum Flats trail, an off-season favorite near Enumclaw that I've hiked several times now. It has old trees and river views, and it never feels crowded. It parallels the highway, which is on the opposite side of the White River, but the river's sound usually drowns out traffic noise. Skookum Flats was actually my Plan C for the day. The first hike I tried, Greenwater Lakes, had an access road that was too snowy and icy for my skill level. The second, Snoquera Falls, had a parking lot so crowded that there was absolutely nowhere to park. I didn't want to wait around for a spot to open, or risk parking somewhere I shouldn't, so I headed to Skookum Flats. Since this trail is through forest, and I was getting a late start (for me) on a sunny day, I wasn't thrilled about my photography prospects. As it turned out, I found a surprisingly good number of subjects to photograph.

First, my favorite image of the day: Skookum Falls from the trail, with a mossy tree in the foreground. The sunlit highlights did end up a bit bright, but since the waterfall itself was shaded, I was able to expose for it correctly. Because the waterfall is the main visual point of interest, the image still works overall, I think. F/18, 1.3 seconds.

Next, the White River from beyond the falls. F/18, 1/8 of a second. I would have liked a longer shutter speed for more motion blur in the water, but that was the best I could manage in the bright sunshine.

Here's a horizontal version of the above composition. I like the vertical better, but thought I would include both for comparison. F/18, 1/8 of a second.

Next, a view of the White River from nearer the trailhead, up on a bluff. The reddish-orange plant at lower right is Oregon grape, and I like the pop of color it creates. F/18.

I also tried my hand at a couple closeups. First, some lichen, with a mossy tree in the background. I tried and tried to figure out a way to make the composition adhere more faithfully to the rule of thirds, but this was the best I could manage. F/5.6.

Finally, red alder catkins, with the White River in the background. I like how well the river and gravel bank come through, without making the image too busy. Even more distant is some remaining snow, which I thought would add some additional seasonal context, but it's not really discernible at this depth of field. F/7.1.

It's fitting that I ended with a picture of catkins; spring, my favorite season, is just around the corner! Stay tuned!

Along the Carbon River

On Sunday, I visited the Carbon River area of Mount Rainier National Park. The area had just reopened after a closure since November, when heavy rainfall washed out a bit of the access road. The Carbon River hike follows a former road that has been closed for years due to the volatility of the river, with a variety of additional hikes (including, most notably, the trail to Green Lake) accessible along the way. I've been to Green Lake before; so, while that's a worthy destination that I'd like to return to at some point, I decided instead to continue up the valley on the former road. As old-road hikes go, it's a good one; there are plenty of old-growth trees the whole way, and as you progress upstream, the views of the river and surrounding peaks improve.

First, the lush old-growth forest along the former road. Forest landscape shots on sunny days are difficult. Usually, the contrast between sunlit and shaded areas is too high, leading to overexposed highlights. This was a challenge on Sunday. Furthermore, when I found landscapes that were fully shaded, the relative darkness necessitated very long exposure times, and even the slightest movement of air caused branches to blur. The image below is more subject to the first challenge - overexposed highlights. The area these highlights cover is limited enough to look intentional, though, and they create an early-morning feel, so I think the image works. F/14.

Next, a view up the Carbon River near the turnoff to Chenuis Falls. After this, I tried a composition closer to the river. It had an even better sense of depth, and I liked how the river occupied more of the frame. Unfortunately, I didn't shield the lens adequately from sun glare, and a lens flare was visible. In sunny conditions like this, it can be tricky to see the camera's display and check for things like that in the field. The wood in the foreground isn't super interesting, but it's better than plain rocks, I think. F/16, 1/13 of a second.

More fun on the Green River

Yesterday, I visited Flaming Geyser State Park near Enumclaw. It's probably best-known for model airplane flying, river recreation, picnicking, and the "geysers" (small methane seeps; note that the "flaming geyser" is not lit anymore). The park has some nice forest and river trails as well, however, and they make for a nice short nike. They have a well-deserved reputation for mud, but I correctly surmised that, after our dry February, the mud wouldn't be too much of a problem.

First, an Indian plum (Oemleria cerasiformis) just starting to open, with some frost crystals visible on the buds and leaves. Elsewhere in the park, a few Indian plum plants had already started to bloom. I'm getting excited for spring! F/6.3.

Next, a scene from the end of the river trail, where the walls of the Green River gorge are most impressive. A red alder is in the foreground. I like the look of the gorge walls here, although this image would probably work better at a print size than on, say, Instagram. There also isn't as much color contrast as I'd like. F/18.

Kanaskat-Palmer State Park

On Saturday, I took advantage of some meteorological quiet before this weekend's wind and mixed precipitation, and visited Kanaskat-Palmer State Park. The park's trails amount to a pretty short hike, but there are some very nice river viewpoints and beaches to make up for that. I've been here a few times, and I don't think I've seen the river as vividly colored as it was this weekend. I don't know enough about the Green River to know why it has this color, or why it would be more pronounced right now, but it was fun to observe.

First, a view of the Green River, mostly through alder trees and salmonberry bushes. The foreground branch at the right, and the most clearly visible portion of the river at the left, help anchor the composition and keep it from getting too busy. F/18, 4 seconds.

Here's a shot from the same location, but closer to the foreground branch and with a narrow depth of field. F/5.6, 0.4 seconds.

Next, the Green River living up to its name at a more placid location. F/16, 3 seconds.

Lastly, a view directly from a river beach. I tried a very similar shot on my last visit (third photograph in the post). While that one had a better sense of depth, I much prefer the colors in this more recent attempt. This is only a preliminary processing job - the lighting needs more work, particularly in the upper half of the image, which is a bit dark. F/16, 4 seconds.

Food-Forgetting February Frolic

On Saturday, I hiked the Lime Kiln Trail near Granite Falls, one of my favorite winter hikes. Although the mud puddles can be a nuisance this time of year, the hike is typically snow-free, and the forest and river are quite pretty. A bit of a surprise came during the hike, however: when we got hungry and reached into our packs for a snack, we were dismayed to discover that we had forgotten most of the food we had laid out for the day, including our lunch food! Thankfully, the Like Kiln Trail is not very strenuous, so we were able to complete the hike with the modest snacks that had made it into the pack. Anything longer, or with substantial elevation gain, and we might have had to turn back.

First, a view down over the South Fork Stillaguamish River, framed by mossy bigleaf maple trunks and licorice ferns. I've tried to photograph this particular view, with the little stream in the distance, on prior visits without success. All of the salmonberry in the understory can make the the view from the trail pretty busy. I'm glad I was able to make it work this year. F/18.

Next, another view down to the South Fork Stillaguamish, this time through denser woods. The color of the river is a bit washed out and almost overexposed, but there's enough of it visible that it still works. I like how the horizontal orientation of the river contrasts with the vertical lines of the tree trunks. F/16.

Finally, Hubbard Creek framed by mossy forest. Despite how small the creek is in the frame, I like this overall. The creek is still clearly discernible, and the green moss stands out nicely. F/18, 6 seconds.

My favorite part of the hike is probably the turnaround point, where the trail drops down to a rocky river beach. I tried some pictures there, but didn't end up with anything that improved upon my photography from that spot in prior years.

I'll end the post with one from last weekend's visit to the Green River Natural Area near Enumclaw (O'Grady Park) that didn't make it into that blog post. I'm not sure why; it's a decent image. A red cedar is in the foreground. O'Grady Park, like most of the forested parks in the area, is definitely second-growth, but there are still a few reasonably sized cedars scattered throughout. F/18.