Ephemeral Green (20/52)

I love the time in spring when the first leaves appear on bushes and trees. Sun rays painting everything in various shades of bright green. This never lasts long, but the time can be extended by traveling to a higher elevation.

Here are two images taken in Pemberton in early April on one of those day when I was done with paragliding well before Pete had his fill. Making the best of this opportunity I hopped in the car and went on this afternoon photo excursion.

Yellow Fields in Germany (19/52)

An interesting example of how politics change landscapes: thanks to subsidies for alternative fuel production, Germany is yellow with (Raps) canola fields in bloom. I'm enjoying this display of colors and was hoping to get some nice images. The one below was taken near Jena where we went to see the many orchids (Frauenschuh - Ladyslipper and Knabenkraut) growing in the nearby limestone hills.

 

Strochendorf Linum (18/52)

Some catching up to do on this blog after my trip to Germany. While the trip was mostly about visiting family and friends I also got to play with some new photo equipment more precisely with the Tamron 150-600 a German friend let me use. I must say I liked the lens a lot. I'm thinking now for a long lens image stabilization is a must have for me. Guess I just don't have a steady enough hand for the Canon 400.

 Linus is a small village in Brandeburg northwest of Berlin where storks return year after year to build their nests. Very nice to have the big lens to snap pictures of these 'contrasty' birds. We also saw cranes and ponds full of frogs on our tour around the village.

White Stork. Canon 60D, Tamron 150-600, f10, 1/640, ISO500

Dandelion Black & Whites (17/52)

Was quite happy with the image I took with the little NEX6 of a dandelion seedhead. It seemed to be asking for rendering for black and white. Here it is.

Burnaby Rookery (16/52)

Last year I 'discovered' a rookery of great blue heron just 10 minutes from our place. The birds roost high up in cottonwood trees and there is just a short window to observe nest building and courtship before leaves obscure everything (this year the window closed in early April). With increased tele-power of my newly acquired 400 lens I got some nice shots of the interactions of one heron couple. Interesting feather costume the birds display during courtship time.

Its been hit and miss to get sufficiently sharp images with the lens but looks like I'm finally getting the hang of it. Fast shutter speed and correct exposure seem to do the trick (or maybe I'm just building more muscle to hold the lens steady?).

Great grey heron at rookery. 70D, 400 mm, ISO 800, f8, 1/800

Fraser Valley Tulips (15/52)

Every April when photos of the tulip fields in the Fraser and Skagit Valleys show up in the news I plan to visit but for some reason or other I never get around doing it. Not so this year! At the end of March and in early April (couple of weeks ahead compared to average years) I took time for a couple of photo sessions. In the Fraser Valley the weather was rather gloomy but the clouds made for nice contrast with the many rows of bright colors.

Near La Conner, WA. 70D, 55 mm, ISO 200, f14, 1/250

Fraser Valley Tulips with Mt. Cheam. 70D, 18 mm, ISO 200, f11, 1/320

Fraser Valley Tulips. 70D, 33 mm, ISO 200, f18, 1/100

Back to Cypress Creek (14/52)

On my last trip to Cypress Falls Park I had planned to visit a scenic little falls just below the parking area. But water was running high, I wasn't sure if the area would be accessible and decided to explore the creek farther upstream.

This time I made it to my photographic objective and took shots from various points. I liked the one below best. It was dark in the canyon and just using a polarize filter allowed a long enough exposure to get a blurring effect on the water. Just as on my last visit the water was brown with tannins and I resisted the temptation to adjust the color to get it clean and white.

Cypress Creek. 70D, f/16, 3s, ISO100, -0.7, 10mm, CP filter