Mundy Wildflower Garden- Slowing Down to See

It's been twenty years since I discovered the Mundy Wildflower Garden on the Cornell campus. The rich array of spring blooms captured my imagination. Soon I was working on a project to upgrade the  images posted at the welcoming "Bloom Board."  A sense of urgency drove me as I worked to find artful compositions that spoke of the beauty.  No mug shots! I said.  Over five hundred quality images were put on file; but in retrospect, I needed to slow down in order to realize the emotions that I was feeling. 

The urgency is now controlled.  Honestly, every time I get low on the ground for an intimate view, well, my cranky knees also work to slow my pace.  There are only three subjects for this message.  In addition to appreciating their beauty, I hope there is some useful insight for even simple phone captures.

The first subject is a small pod of Wild Geraniums. This image is different from what I made twenty years ago in two respects.   First, I paid more attention to the colors in the scene and to the location of the supporting yellows especially.  Twenty years ago, the distant colors were not carefully placed above and below the blue-violet blooms. I could have done better years before.  Notice how the leaf at the bottom shows  the form clearly.

The second difference is in the camera technology now available. I was so close to these flowers that only a short distance is actually in sharp focus. The image is a stack of six images that walk from the nearest part of the Wild Geranium leaf to the last part that I wanted in focus. The camera is on a tripod and does not move for all six images.  For each shot, the scene displays red dots on all edges that are sharp. I merely walk the red dots from near to far on the flower, and stop. The software selects all sharp areas and fills in the rest with those blurry remaining pixels.  Amazing, and not even a dream in 2003.  

The next image is also a second group of Wild Geraniums but with a different intent.  There is a subtle hint that the plants thrive in the mixed light of woodlands.  That was my intent. The blooms are also more directly facing the viewer. 

This is actually a better offering for identification purposes.  It called for greater depth in sharp focus; there were 9 images in the stack.  Impossible twenty years ago.  Easy today.

These big white Trillium grandiflorum are my final subject.  Wait, did I say white?

Yeah, this healthy trillium started out that way, and in its old age it is blushing pink. Still beautiful.  That's why I concentrated on it.  Richly green leaves, too.  It gets love from me because it is still vibrant.  Do you see anything unusual on the flower?  There's a critter sitting motionless even as I poked the one-eyed lens close to it. Let's get a closer view.

I wonder if it is waiting to snap up some visitor feeding on the rich amber pollen? 

I am not sure if I would have noticed this little bug in my earlier rush to photograph everything.

So, there you have it.  Three images in 2-1/2 hours with pauses to enjoy the orioles passing through Mundy.  

Going up to Ithaca, I also am slowing down with the idea to see any of the deer waiting to run across the Route 13 morning rush of commuters. That's another story that also teaches that the slower you go, the more you see.

It's spring.  Enjoy!

Paul

A Burst of Spring Flowers

The woodland bloom is getting exciting.  I went out yesterday to search for a warbler at Cornell's Arnot Forest and did not get 200 yards into the woods before the wildflowers changed the plan.  Right along the main forest road was this stately Purple Trillium- Trillium erectum- in perfect condition.

 

While the species name would imply the flower is erect, it is always nodding down.  The trick to a good image of it is to get very low - that is best done by finding plants on a steep hillside.  Seen at right is the usual approach.  In this case, I had to straddle a fallen log on a somewhat slippery slope.  It is a slow process with much care to avoid damaging other blooming plants.

At such a close distance, the lens has a shallow of depth of focus. So, I made six images stepped from closest leaf tip the to the most distant leaf. This, of course, included the purple flower's detail.  The resulting "portrait" came from aligning all six images and selecting the sharper parts of each image.  This is a revolutionary change in how to overcome the inherent limits of optics. See the result below.

I became rather driven to find Purple Trillium clinging to increasingly steep slopes.

 

Inevitably, I found the most marginal of all possibilities.

This was about 50 feet above the valley floor.  It convinced me to find other subjects.  

The beautiful Trout Lily - Erythronium americanum - were also in bloom.  They are only open when the sky is clear so, this was the opportunity I wanted.

Like the Purple Trillium, they are looking downward.  I put my camera down in the leaves and propped it up to get the image.  They are a true ephemera and will totally disappear by mid-summer.

There are other blooms to find that were easier to photograph.  Consider the Virginia Bluebells- Mertensia virginica.  It is a plant of the river woods.  Here's one of my favorite images.

It had been a full morning. As I exited the forest road, I saw an exceptional cluster of White Trillium - Trillium grandiflorum - and had to stop.  Too lazy to unload my camera again, I depended upon my iPhone. 

 

Ten blooms!   The steep bank must be rich and well watered.  

No wonder that spring is my favorite season.

Paul