Mountain Laurel on Blue Ridge Parkway

Mountain Laurel, June 7, 2005
I found this huge and impressive mountain laurel shrub in the wooded picnic area near mile 170 of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The plant was about 12 feet (4 meters) tall and was pressed against a budding rhododendron that was just as big. I was excited as I filled my frame with these clusters of pink blossoms. I had been trying to get a good picture of Mountain Laurel for several years--including back in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey in the mid 1990s. I have tried lots of closeups, featuring one or two flowers, but the final photographs have been disappointing. What I like most about this photo is how these clusters fill the frame nicely and form an interesting pattern on top of that.