flowers » 39° North Photography

I went on a REALLY awesome hike yesterday in the Lost Creek Wilderness but haven’t had time to get through my photos yet. I hope to have those ready by tomorrow, but in the meantime, here are a few more images from Wednesday’s visit to the garden up the street:

I was first introduced to the Coconut Lime Echinacea when it was featured in a Sunset magazine last year and I knew right then that I HAD to plant some in my yard. Isn’t it awesome?! I just love the subtle colors.

With all the rain we’ve had lately, my garden is blooming like gangbusters. I’ll have to do a whole post on it sometime in the near future.

Having made the decision that pushing for Pawnee Pass with ever-darkening clouds looming above was not a good idea, I began the trek back to the trailhead. I had my doubts, though, and turned back around no fewer than three times before I made my FINAL decision.

Here’s the view to the southeast, which was the direction I was heading:

It wasn’t until I was almost back to my car and started hearing thunder coming from up around the Pawnee Pass area that I finally felt like I had made the right choice. I got rained on just a wee bit on the way back down, but not even enough to break out the rain jacket.

For a little change of scenery on the hike back, I decided to take the Jean Lunning Trail that skirts around the south side of Long Lake. And I was awfully glad I did. I don’t think there are words to describe how incredible the wildflowers were on that side of the lake.

And who knew that Indian Paintbrush could even BE this color!

Tune in tomorrow for what just might be my final blog post for this hike! And MAYBE that wallpaper I’ve been promising you.

The Lake Isabelle hike was fabulous. Just after the trail reaches the lake another trail veers off to the right to Pawnee Pass. That was my goal yesterday, but I didn’t quite make it to the pass due to the threatening clouds. I didn’t particularly care to be caught above treeline when those clouds let loose. I’ll have to try for the pass again another time.

I took approximately 2280 photos yesterday. Good grief. It’s going to take me years to get through all of those! Here’s my favorite one so far:

Indian Peaks fireweed

Again I found photographic inspiration just outside my door, this time in the back yard. Is there anything more happy and summery than a sunflower?

Earlier this summer, we hung a bird feeder on the back patio very close (apparently TOO close) to the zucchini/crookneck squash garden bed and the birds ended up planting all sorts of things in the bed that I didn’t necessarily want to grow there. I’ve been pulling out little millet plants and who-knows-what-else all summer. The sunflower plant somehow managed to survive the weeding and once I realized what it was, I left it alone as I’m quite pleased to have this sunflower interloper around. No doubt I’ll be spending many more moments in the coming days photographing every little nuance of its sunny little face.

On Saturday I went outside looking for photographic inspiration, and I didn’t have to look any further than this Purple Coneflower, aka Echinacea purpurea, in the planting bed out in front of my house. I love the simple elegance and rich color of these flowers. I recently discovered a “coconut lime” variety of Echinacea purpurea and am determined to find those for my planting bed for next year.

As you can probably tell by now, wildflower photography has become the driving force behind my frequent spring and summer hikes here in my Rocky Mountains. I’ve become a student of Colorado wildflowers not only because I love to take pictures of them, but also because I’m somewhat obsessed with knowing their names. I have a whole pile of books specifically about Colorado wildflowers and if I photograph a flower that I can’t identify, I will pore through the books, and the internet if necessary, until I can determine what it is.

Purple fringe, Butler Gulch

You don’t have to be quite so obsessive-compulsive in order to take nice wildflower pictures. Following are a few tips for improving your wildflower photos:

There are two general types of wildflower shots: the portrait, which is a photo of a single flower or small grouping of flowers; and the landscape, which generally features a whole bunch of flowers in the foreground of a beautiful landscape shot. Try doing some of both.

Field of blooms, Butler Gulch

Columbine, Butler Gulch

Wind is the archenemy of the wildflower photographer. Even with a tripod and fast shutter speeds, you’re probably not going to get a good shot of a moving flower. This will be a good time for you to work on that characteristic that is critical for photographers: patience. Really super windy days are not good days to attempt wildflower photography, but if it’s just a little breezy, wait it out. The wind will generally let up here and there, so seize that moment to take your shot.
A tripod really is necessary to get super crisp flower shots. Often you’ll be shooting in lower light conditions, such as in the dappled light of the forest or at sunrise or whatever, and you’ll need to use slower shutter speeds, for which a tripod is critical. Even in ideal light conditions, a tripod is your best bet for capturing nice sharp photos.

Alpine avens, Butler Gulch

Get low. Shooting flowers from above is rarely the best angle. Mix it up. Get really low and shoot from underneath the flower. Be creative. You knees will get dirty, but it’s worth the effort.
Tread lightly. Don’t go stomping all over a whole field of flowers and other plants just to get at the one you want to photograph. It’s just not nice.
Light: As with most other types of photography, the best times to shoot wildflowers are just after sunrise and just before sunset. For the rest of the day, it’s best if the sky is overcast or at least partly or mostly cloudy. The midday sun creates harsh shadows and highlights.
If you absolutely must shoot in the middle of the day, consider using diffusers and reflectors to manipulate the light.
Don’t use your on-camera flash.
Lens: A macro lens or macro setting is best for photographing individual flowers. I generally use my 105mm macro lens when I’m shooting close up. If you have a point and shoot with a macro setting, experiment with that. Try the super macro if that’s an option. For landscape shots, a wider lens or setting is usually better.

Columbine landscape, Butler Gulch

Composition: Get close. Fill the frame. Experiment with the Rule of Thirds. Don’t center every flower in the frame, but it’s ok sometimes. Try to capture the occasional bee, moth, butterfly or spider within your flower composition. Check your background for distracting elements. For landscape shots, try to find a fabulous background to complement that gorgeous field of blooms. Flowers also work well in the “intimate landscapes” that I wrote about HERE.

Mountain laurel intimate landscape, Diamond Lake

Look for nice specimens. Don’t bother photographing the flower that’s covered in dust, damaged by frost or half eaten by a bug. Look for the most beautiful specimen(s) that you can find.

Dusky beardtongue, Mayflower Gulch

Take LOTS of photos.

Of course I have to admit that I don’t do all this stuff. I rarely use a tripod, I almost always shoot in the harsh midday sun and I’ve never used diffusers or reflectors, etc. I definitely have a lot of room for improvement. But that’s what it’s all about – improving – so pick a couple of these tips at a time to work on and I can almost guarantee that your wildflower photos will start looking better.

Scarlet paintbrush, Fourth of July Trail

I’m heading out in a minute on my first wildflower hike/photo shoot of the season and I’m going to a place I haven’t been before, so that’ll be fun. It might be just a TAD early for the wildflowers yet, but that’s OK. It’ll be a nice hike regardless.

Meanwhile, here are some from my first wildflower hike/photo shoot of last year:

It’s coming up on iris time in the spring flower progression. Here’s an iris I photographed a few years ago with my old Canon point and shoot camera. Purty, eh?

This is sort of turning into a flower blog, isn’t it? And it’s just going to get worse. I’ll try to mix it up a bit, but hey… it’s that time of the year.