One week later, we were back on the mountain on another sunny day—doesn't it ever get cloudy in the Pacific Northwest?
Brilliant sunshine in a mountain valley. Patches of fireweed are scattered between the bushes. The patch in the photo below is out of sight to the left of this scene. Photo: © Donald J. Rommes
A week passed before we were able to return to the mountain. Again, it was a beautiful, sunny day with a blank blue sky. We decided to stay a bit lower where there was heather, lupine, grasses, and fireweed.
It was actually hot in the sun, and the lighting was too harsh and difficult for flower photography. We sought out the even light of shady areas. While resting in the shade of a copse of hemlock trees, we noticed a cluster of fireweed flowers. In the bluish light of the shade, the flowers appeared more purple than usual, and they were backlit by a grassy hillside in full sun.
I loved the combination of colors. Focusing on a single flower and stem, I chose a wide aperture to blur the background and most of the flowers into fields of color. I thought a panorama format would work well here, so I made two exposures side-by-side and stitched them together in the computer. The result is below.
Stitched panorama of fireweed in shade. Clicking on the photo will take you to its location on our sister website, Iris Arts, where it is available for purchase. Photo: © Donald J. Rommes
On the drive back home, we passed a mountain pond. On the side of the pond that was sheltered from wind, the open water was bordered first by flat-lying grasses, then patches of lush, upright grasses and sedges. Although the light was very harsh in the brilliant sunshine, the scene was attractive and the contrast was manageable. We stopped for photographs.
Pond grasses on mountain lake. Photo: © Donald J. Rommes
Sedges and grasses, pondside. Clicking on the photo will take you to its location on our sister website, Iris Arts, where it is available for purchase. Photo: © Donald J. Rommes
The vegetated border of a mountain pond. Clicking on the photo will take you to its location on our sister website, Iris Arts, where it is available for purchase. Photo: © Donald J. Rommes
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