Chambers Creek Park

[Russ]

Nearby (University Place) Chambers Creek Park is a mega complex built by several agencies including Pierce County for a waste water treatment facility; the park with its admin offices, demonstration of recycled water areas, and recreation areas (soccer fields, walkways & gardens); and the one year old Chambers Bay Scottish links style gof course that will be the site of the 2015 US Open and 2010 US Amateur championships. The amazing thing is that all of this is redeveloped from a HUGE spent sand & gravel pit on the shore of Puget Sound. Its also a great place to quickly get out for a photo shoot of wildflowers early in the season and sunsets over the Olympics anytime the clouds are right.

1 & 2. Lupine and other alpine flowers can be found in soil around rocks as the rocks absorb light as heat, warming the soil and helping germinate seed in the normally short growing seasons of the alpine versions.

Canon 20D, 17-85mm @ 50 Canon 20D, 17-85mm @ 85
ISO800, f11, 1/60 sec ISO100, f5.6, 1/32080 sec

3. Another clump nestled against a rock

Canon 20D, 17-85mm @ 70
ISO400, f5.6, 1/800 sec

4 & 5. Lupine bloom stalks showing the shades of blue to blue violet to violet in just this subspecies. Others are white to pink to violet.

Canon 20D, 17-85mm @ 85 Canon 20D, 17-85mm @ 85
ISO800, f11, 1/60 sec ISO400, f5.6, 1/160 sec

6 & 7. A clump of lupine in front of a cluster of paper birch in the meadow area. On the right is a Yellow Flag, a wild iris that grows in boggy areas and surrounded by cat-'o-ninetails.

Canon 20D, 17-85mm @ 30 Canon 20D, 100-400mm @ 220
ISO800, f16, 1/4 sec ISO400, f6.3, 1/320 sec

8. At last light I caught a clump of lupine silhouetted against the sunset.

Canon 20D, 17-85mm @ 85

ISO100, f8, 1/25 sec

Your comments and critique are always appreciated.

Message Edited by Russ on 05-27-2008 10:02 AM

[eBaugherPhoto]

Russ,

Sounds like a great place to visit. The flowers are beautiful. The colors and contrast in #3 & #5 are the best of the purple flowers. #3 has got to be my favorite. The only thing that might have improved it would have been to have left a little more sky. It is awful close to the top of the frame, but a beautiful picture and I love the rock in it as well. Too bad the bee in #4 wouldn't have been a little more cooperative and posed better . Those bees can be so hard to work with sometimes. I don't really care for #6, because of the tree just behind the flowers. The flowers in #7 are nice, but just doesn't do much for me. Can't really give much of a reason, maybe too centered or not enough headroom above the top iris. And I like the last shot. I enjoy the sihlouette look. Maybe next time, along with a sihlouette, try using the same settings on the camera (or meter to the sky) and use a fill flash to see how those flowers would look against a nice sunset. Enjoyed looking at them.

Eddie

[Bozzzzzzz]

I like the 3rd shot, because of the low vantage point. Beautiful flowers.

[suci]

All are nice but like most i think # 3 is smashing.

[jstlilome]

What beautiful flowers! I love number 3 too! Is there any way to minimize the shadow there? Its quite distracting to me for an otherwise wall-hanger shot. I dont think that it needs to be completely cloned out. Just maybe add a curves adjustment layer to increase the light there, and mask everything else. Just a thought.

[Russ]

Thanks for the comments.

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jstlilome wrote:

What beautiful flowers! I love number 3 too! Is there any way to minimize the shadow there? Its quite distracting to me for an otherwise wall-hanger shot. I dont think that it needs to be completely cloned out. Just maybe add a curves adjustment layer to increase the light there, and mask everything else. Just a thought.

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Or reshoot it!!!! I have to admit at not even seeing that shadow as I shot it as I was fretting with composition on the upper right (tree framing), the sky, and leftside lupine in shadow.