Mt LeConte Sunset (one year ago)



Woodland Spring is the story of spring-blooming woodland wildflowers of the eastern US. It will include photographs and descriptions, closeups and landscapes. It will tell the "story of spring" in the forests from Iowa to New Jersey and Michigan to North Carolina and Tennesse. And from time to time, I will include photos that are completely different, just for the fun of it.





Blue Cohosh Buds
Blue Cohosh Flowers (and visitor)
I found this plant yesterday while walking through the woods of southern Virginia. This Dutchman's Breeches has PINKINSH flowers instead of the typical white. It is not unheard of, but it is uncommon! This hint of pink in the petals gives an idea that the pink color of "bleeding hearts" (a domesticated relative) is indeed a natural phenomenon, just selected for intentionally (by humans) over time. Genetic variation is pretty cool.
It has been forever since I posted a spring wildflower photo here. Sorry about that. I have been busy doing too many other things (including weddings and directories). As of last week, I am working as efficiently as possible on preparations for the upcoming Annual Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage in the Smokies. It begins the week of April 20. I am doing a Wednesday presentation after the kick off lunch (check the printable brochure on the home page). I will also be selling photos as a vendor. Here is one photo that I have just prepared and printed up as a card; I will make some larger prints too. It is Sweet White Trillium. I got this shot last year (same week as last year's pilgrimage) when hanging out with my photographer friend Kyle. He "found" the shot but let me try it too. The front (lower) flower is intentionally in focus while the back flower (top) is not. The shot can work ok as long as the "out of focus" part appears intentional rather than as just a mistake!
It started with a trip to Petsmart to return the steps that Buttercup never used, steps that were supposed to help her climb up to the bed on her own. (See below to read about Buttercup's final summer and her last day with us in August.) And being at Petsmart, I had to walk past the adoption area. After all, the cats and kittens are so beautiful and I just had to see them even though I knew it would make me sad.
Here's another picture of Buttercup. This one is from July 29, just three weeks before her last day. She was resting in her circular "bed" beside the glass door, and the diffused sunlight provided nice soft light for this shot. At this point, she still spent a lot of time with her head up and looking around, but this was a peaceful moment when she decided to rest. At this point, she had already visited the local Veterinary school and had been diagnosed with lymphoma. We knew it was just a matter of time, but we wanted to make that time last as long as possible, and for as long as she seemed happy to be alive. See below for more about Buttercup.
This is a tribute to Buttercup. We adopted her 13 years ago when we were living in Iowa. She had either been abandoned or lost, and probably also not treated too well by people. For years she was very shy and scared when new people showed up at the door. But over time, she got lots of love from us, and learned to trust again.
I have added a new page called, "Composing Photos," on my other website carolwolfe.org. I am just beginning work on that page, but have included topics such as "Quality of Light" in which I talk about photographing in different light conditions (full sun, haze, etc) as well as using a diffuser and reflector. The above photo gives some idea of the types of information on that page. I based this page on a presentation I recently gave at the Annual Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage in Gatlinburg, TN. By the way, this photo shows two similar shots of spring beauty, one using a reflector (left) and one simply shade (right).

I met this girl on April 1, 2008, the first day that Clingmans Dome Road was open during 2008. (It is closed from Dec 1 through March 31 every year.) As I pulled into the parking lot, she came running up beside my car. It seemed she must have been used to getting food from people in cars. Of course I did not feed her. It's not good for the animals to get used to thinking of humans as a source of food. Anyway, I parked the car and got out. She put some distance between us but still let me get close enough to get several good shots of her. I called her "Lucky" because I felt so lucky to meet her.
On April 2, 2008, I was driving up Newfound Gap Road (from Gatlinburg, on my way to Clingmans Dome) when I stopped along the side of the road to photograph some trees that were lit nicely in the late afternoon sun. Since it was mid spring, the tree tops had a variety of color due to the buds that were forming in the branches. As I photograhed the trees across the valley, I heard a loud sound in a tree not far from where I was standing. I looked over, knowing it was something large, and I saw a black spot moving along the edge of a tree. I kept looking, and shifted my camera. I readjusted the settings too, since a bear tends to move faster than a calm landscape... In any case, here are two shots that I got while standing there alone by my car. Little did I know that day, that a month and a half later (May 19) I would meet my first bear alone in the woods. That second meeting was even more exiting than the one along the road since I was three miles from my car and all alone in the woods.
I don't usually get close enough to birds to bother to try and get a shot. But a landscape type shot is possible, even with a relatively wide zoom lens. In fact I was using the Nikon D40 this day, not the D200. The D40 is what I take on "family" trips, and this was a family trip. So anyway, here is the bird framed nicely in the corner (using the tightest framing I could get with the 18-55mm lens that came with the D40). I like the way the waves add a nice pattern to the frame.
This shot is more clinical than the one above, but the bird is nicely lit. I like this shot mainly because it is something new for me. I hardly ever have the chance to photograph a bird. The clouds helped diffuse the light but also kind of cooled and flattened the image to some degree. Ideally, I would ask for a slight bit of sunshine, which this time of day would have been lighting the top and back of the bird, kind of like the shot above.
If not for the water, this might look like a Martian landscape. The light was amazing that day. I love the way the sprays of water are backlit (somwhat sidelit) by the recently risen sun to the right of this frame.
Here is another shot, just to show the action of the waves. Also you can see a bird in the top right corner. Of the two shots shown here, I like the second one best.
As my friend and I froze our fingers off, we waited for sunrise and got some nice shots of the water. I like the pink sky, which reminds me of pictures I have seen of Mars. I also like the purple-blue water, which I suppose picked up color reflecting from the sky. See below for more shots from this same day...
Here is a vertical shot (above) that I also tried in a horizontal arrangement (below). I like each one for different reasons. But the thing I like most about the vertical shot is the interesting pattern of the waves. I was looking for something diagonal or zig-zag like. And I was able to get that using the vertical composition but not horizontal. Horizontal framing limited the depth of the photo, while vertical let me shoot the sand near my feet and also include the sun.
I chose this shot because I like the way the sunlight reflects off the surface and the way the group of three waves kind of breaks up the light. It might have been cold and windy, but the reflection was also very bright.
One of my friends said he likes this shot, and then specifically referred to the the "Lochness Monster." I smiled when he said that, and I remembered some of those fuzzy shots of the monster I had seen years ago.
In this shot, I tried to show the depth of the swamp at Congaree National Park. It was just a few weeks ago, and the swamp was rather dry. But this lowland area had some standing water. I like the way the moss on the trees shows the peak water level from last year. This was a fun 2.4 mile hike on the boardwalks around the swamp. It was a partly cloudy day so I was able to get some diffused lighting even though I was there during early afternoon.
This photograph was selected for the New River Art 2007 Ninth Biennial Exhibition presented by the Blacksburg Regional Art Association. This was a juried art show, and my photograph was one of about 35 pieces accepted.

I photographed a bunch of chrysanthemums the other day. My goal was to fill the frame with flowers, as shown in the third of these three shots. But after thinking about the image, I decided that I would try again--on a rainy day, which explains the rain drops on the first two pictures. I did some vertical shots and also some horizontal. I settled on my two favorite shots, only to discover that I had pretty much isolated the same blossom but in two different directions. The first and second shot shown here are complete different attempts, separated by at least ten minutes time. It was pretty funny when I realized that my two favorite shots were actually pretty much the same shot.
I don't usually photograph cultivated plants, but I decided that this summer I would give it a try. Here are a couple shots of the gladiolus in my front yard. It had rained earlier that day, and it was rather calm, so I was able to get some pretty crisp shots with rain drops. I tried some wider shots, but decided the close up shots were best.
I found this newt yesterday after photographing a waterfall. I was walking along the trail and couldn't help but see the BRIGHT orange "lizard shaped thing" in the middle of the trail. I stopped to set up the tripod and put the 200 mm micro lens on my D200 camera body. As I prepared to photograph the newt, I was pleased to see that the newt crawled up on a nice smooth gray rock. It was a much better background than the twig-cluttered dirt on the trail. But yes, the newt is on a rock in the woods, not a step. As I continued to work, the newt continued to move, but slowly. My exposures were in the 4 second range, so I was glad that the newt was taking his/her time. By the time I finished up, the newt was safely OFF the trail.
I found this pink lady slipper a few days ago while attending a women's retreat on a mountain in North Carolina, not far from Highlands. It was nearly 10 AM and a very bright sunny day. I used a diffuser (above the frame toward the top left) to soften the sunlight and prevent that speckled appearance that occurs when sunlight filters through the branches of trees, casting dark shadows. I also used a silver/gold reflector, which I leaned against my tripod leg, to reflect some sunlight on the darker left side of the flower. I was surprised at the significant bit of brightening that occured when using the reflector.


Here are some rhododendrons I photographed recently on a mountain near Highlands, NC. It was about 9 AM on a very sunny day, and already the light was a bit bright for photographing. Still I decided to give it a shot. Perhaps next year it will be a slightly cloudy day so that the light will be more diffused. Last year, on the other hand, the rhododendrons were not yet in bloom during my annual trip to the mountain.
I found this beautiful flower on the NC side of the Smokies near Black Camp Gap on April 27, 2007. This is called Trillium erectum. Its flower is held above the leaves. There are also a couple species of nodding trilliums in the Smokies, whose flowers hang below the leaves and are extremely difficult to photograph. I found some of those in NC also, and I plan to post a few shots of those later this week.
Here is a pair of Trout Lilies, which I found on the NC side of the Smoky Mountains. The early April frost on the Tennesee side destroyed many of the flowers, but it seems that many of the flowers in NC were spared. My friend and I found all kinds of neat stuff when exploring the backwoods of NC, including a few species of trillium.
This is the sunset last shot I got from the parking lot at Clingman's Dome in the Smokies on April 27. About ten minutes before this shot, I got the one below. The key difference is the foreground. Here the sun had gone low enough behind the horizon (toward my right as I face the image) to become shaded, while below the sun was high enough to light up the foreground just a bit.
I just returned from a week-long photography trip in the Smokies. I also attended (and presented two slide shows at) the Annual Wildflower Pilgrimage. It was a lot of fun. Here is a sunset shot that I got at the parking lot near Clingman's Dome on April 27, 2007. We went up to the dome the night before, but decided to just try the parking lot view on this cold and windy night. I think this one turned out ok, but I like the later shot (above) best.



Here is Yellow Trillium, Trillium luteum, which I found beside the road on the way to Greenbriar Trail on Monday, April 9th. This is one of several shots I got that morning, and I am preparing many of those shots for my presentation on "Composing Wildflower Photos," which I will present at the Annual Wildflower Pilgrimage in Gatlinburg during the last full week of April. I will also be presenting a show called "Woodland Spring." If you want more information on the pilgrimage, just type the name into Google and you should find their home page.
Here is the SNOW-COVERED Showy Orchid, which I found on Saturday, April 7th. The next day, I went back to check on this plant, and found the stem and flowers brown and wilted. This plant will survive, but it will likely NOT be making seeds this year. Next to this plant was another orchid, but with BUDS, not flowers. The orchid with buds looked just fine on Sunday, so the slightly later blooming time will work to its advantage this year. Snow and hard frosts might not be common in early April, but they are not unheard of. As for the damaged plant, let's hope that next year will bring it better luck.
Here is a bud that survived the hard frost with only a little bit of damage. This was the lucky plant this year.
Here is Dutchmen's Breeches, which I found in the Smokies a couple days ago. Bad news, however, it got really cold this weekend and the frost/snow caused a lot of the Dutchmen's flowers to shrivel up. The stems leaned over, and the flowers dried up and started to wilt. I saw the damage on Easter day. But these flowers are perennials and in the long run, they will survive. Stay tuned on my website to see some snow-covered Showy Orchids (Orchis spectabilis). In the case of the orchid, as with many other plants, individuals that were flowering experienced definite damage, but plants with buds came through the frost just fine. Seed counts may be lower this year than usual, but these plants are adapted to life in the forest, so they will survive. Clear-cutting, landscaping, and paving provide a bigger threat than an occasional hard frost.
This is just a quick snap shot of May Apple yesterday here in the Smokies. It was COLD and wintry in the woods. When the sun came out from behind the clouds (intermittently) it would cause some of the snow to melt. But here you can see the crystalline snow as well as melted snow on the "umbrella shaped" leaf of the May Apple.
Hepatica is blooming in southern Virginia. This is actually one of the last ones to bloom this year. I found this beautiful plant yesterday (March 28). It was sitting beside a rock in the shade, and made a picture-perfect image. I have already printed a copy for my wall.
This is a closeup of Toothwort. Like any obedient member of the mustard family, Tootwort flowers have FOUR petals. I found this yesterday before I found the Hepatica (above).
This is one of those wider shots intended mostly to show the context in which I found the above plant. If you look at the plant on the right side, the taller one, you might recognize the same plant that appears in the closeup above. Closeups are my favorite, but sometimes a wider perspective can help a person get a better sense of what the wildflower looks like in the woods. Note the leaves on this "Cut-Leaf" Toothwort. The Broad-Leaf Toothwort has wider lobes in its pointy, jagged leaves.
These are my most recent photographs of bloodroot, all taken within the past week. Last year, I rescued a whole bunch of these from a road construction project, and planted them under a maple tree in my back yard where they get sufficient shade (once the maple leaves fill out) and moisture to survive the summer. Anyway, here are several different views of bloodroot, the first showing the general appearance of the plant when the flower is in bloom. The other photos (below) are my attempts to be a bit creative and try a variety of perspectives. I am happy to say that many of these blooms have stayed fresh and pretty for three or four days. Much of this depends on the weather. A hard rain would have knocked the petals off the plants. But since these flowers opened up, we have had no rain. Enjoy these beautiful plants while you can. They bloom for a very short amount of time. Later this spring, I plan to post pictures of the seed pods (stringbean shaped) with the increasingly larger and somewhat darker green leaves.

