22 Aug 14. Scrolling through the choices of images for today's macro submission, I selected several from which Jan could choose and generally got the reply, 60s. This one at least got an O.K. so it is what you are getting. If you would have preferred the 60s style - meaning lots of bright color - you'll have to take it up with her. This is a shot of a type of water lily that is found in much of the shallow portions of nearby Buck Lake, where it comprises about 20% of the total water lily population, the other 80% being the typical pointy petaled white or pink variety. The more typical ones seem to be much more affected by the hot weather while these don't seem to be nearly as affected by the heat of summer. I find this variety to be more interesting to view as they remind me somewhat of a roulette wheel although I realize that is a bit of a stretch. The complexity of the flower makes me think that the design of it took a bit of work, as it is far more complicated than is the flower "interior" of most other blossoms. Shooting these lilies from inside a canoe is a lot of fun and can also be a little challenging when you have a couple of cherubs doing their "best" to sit still when there is sooooooooo much stuff to look at as well as reach out and try to touch. And even though it sometimes makes the photography a little bit more difficult, it is worth it to know that they are getting to see things that would other wise be unavailable to them while perhaps gaining an appreciation of the miracles of life. Setting the shutter to a much higher speed helps greatly in getting around the excitement and curiosity created movement. Nikon D300s; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 400; 1/1250 sec @ f /13.
25 Aug 14. As we traveled along I-90 starting mid-way across eastern Washington and on through Montana on our way to West Yellowstone, we frequently observed some startling yellow flowers along side the road. I stopped a couple of times in WA state to shoot them but never got an acceptable capture and had no idea what they were. However, upon looking at a new MT map we were delighted to see them adorning the front and to find a short blurb about the Arrowleaf Balsamroot inside. As you will observe from the image, these flowers are quite beautiful in their own right, and having them blooming in large accumulations along the side of the road made the traveling all that more enjoyable, especially in areas such as eastern Washington where it can be rather stark for a long distance. My ability at capturing a suitable image failed me until the return trip when we came upon a hillside that was both covered with them and easily accessible from the highway. This image is from that shoot and I've elected to go with the creative version as both Jan and I thought it was the strongest of the three versions. I've cropped the initial capture to emphasize just the flowers, adjusted it to ensure that all the zones 0 - 10 are present, individually adjusted the reds, yellows, oranges, and greens to get the best color, and then run a painting filter on it. Nikon D300s; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/250 sec @ f / 7.1.
