Wildflower Photography Workshop, July 23, 2009

We headed out of Durango at 7am and drove to the Silverton Rico trail, crossed the creek and spent time photographing the amazing display of Tall Chiming Bells, Larkspur, Wild Geraniums and Rosy Paintbrush. The morning lessons included the understanding of control of depth of field and how to use the depth of field preview button. We hit the trail at peak wildflowers today. I was at the same spot 5 days ago and it was not as prolific nor as stunning. The predominant flowers were the tall Larkspur and they rose up into the sky in some of our lessons. At 8:30 when we started photographing along the creek there was still plenty of dew so the flowers and leaves were sparkling.

The cumulus clouds came in and we hiked a short, steep bit of the Silverton Rico trail and practiced the near flower, far mountain arrangements. Students were challenged to pick a perfect bunch of flowers and put them in the foreground while choosing the appropriate aperture to achieve the depth of field they pre-visualized.

We gathered for lunch along the creek where we brought out the Wildflower books (no one book shows all our San Juan Mountains wilds!) and discussed the successes and challenges of the morning. I taught the use of the depth of field preview button to the group. Then we took off for our 2nd location chosen to explore the near/far relationship of depth of field. Some students took the opportunity to make images along the creek and to show the creek falls in their compositions.

Downside: Biting flies, hot and more sunny than cloudy at times. Next time: wear long sleeves and pants!

Tomorrow we continue with the workshop and head up to Kennebec pass!

Feedback from a student: He liked the day off between workshop days to recoup!