Rocky Mountain Iris

Aug 6

Rocky Mountain Iris

When I photographed this scene, it was glaringly bright so I knew it wouldn’t make a good print. But the flowers were wonderful so I shot anyway figuring I’d have a good memory of it. I also had in mind playing with the image in various creative software with hopes I could rescue it. Topaz Simplify did a great job toning down extreme hightlights. I adjusted just to the point where the super bright highlights disappeared. I then applied Nik Glamour Glow to soften even more and bump up the color. Still not great so I decided to try Dynamic Auto Painter on it. I love this software because it allows you to save your creation as layers for future work. Voila! Fun process 🙂

Aug 5

Marsh Marigold

This is a section of Gold King Basin. The floor was covered with Marsh Marigold. It was one of many wildflower firsts for me on this trip so I was in heaven 🙂

Aug 3

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Wildflowers at 11290 feet

our recent Colorado road trip, we went to a couple of new places above 11,000 feet. Lucky for us, there were lots of wildflowers! This scene is high above Yankee Boy Basin. The pink flowers are Wild Onions (Allium geyeri); the reddish (upper left) is King’s Crown (Rhodiola integrifolia); you probably recognize the Dandelion and then the other yellow flowers are Cinquefoil but I couldn’t figure out the exact species.

Jul 25

Welcomed Rain

We had a fantastic and VERY loud storm last night! It produced more lightening than I’d seen in a very long time and we ended up with more than 1 1/4 inches of rain which was extremely welcomed. I should be showing a photo of lightening today but instead I’m sharing another shot of flowers in the rain. I don’t have an ID for this shrub yet but the flowers sure were pretty!

Canon 24-105mm at 75mm handheld. ISO 400. 1/125th sec at f/6.3

Jul 17

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Colorado Columbine

When photographing Wildflowers, you want to look for freshly opened specimens because they’re typically unblemished and full of pollen. We’ve seen very few Columbine this trip so when I saw this beauty at 11,300 feet, I risked life and limb (really!) by climbing down a steep slope. I wouldn’t have done it if Chris hadn’t been close by, of course 🙂

Jul 15

Snowshoe Hare

While searching for Wildflowers on Alta Mine Road, we encountered these guys. I could tell by their eyes they were Hares and not rabbits so I looked them up and found they are Showshoe Hares. Wow….did that bring back memories. The last time I saw Snowshoe Hares was when I lived in Canada. It brought up a memory of getting in trouble in class when the teacher was telling us about them. She explained how their huge wide hind legs made it easy for them to run in snow and thus escape their predators. Always wanting to share my knowledge (yes it started early 🙂 ), I raised my hand and announced that the Hares also turned white in the winter and I knew it because I had seen it. The teacher (a city girl new to farmland) accused me of making it up! I was given some kind of punishment…probably writing “I must not lie” a hundred times on the blackboard. The next day, she apologized to me in front of the whole class and we discussed the phenomenon of this hare turning white in the winter 🙂

Jul 14

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Priest Gulch Wildflowers

Wildflowers and bugs on Priest Gulch Trail…fun stuff!

L-R: Scarlet Gilia, Oxeye Daisy, Penstemon

Jul 11

Flagstaff Wildflowers

Wildflowers are popping up everywhere in Flagstaff. Pictured here is one of the common Penstemons seen at higher elevations (Aspen Nature Loop). Yesterday I photographed over a dozen Wildflower species. It looks like it’s going to be a great summer!

conservation photographer

Posts tagged ‘Wildflowers’