Two different wildflowers that I really like. The first photo is of pink trilliums. They are less common than the white variety but they tend to grow in bunches which more than makes up for their scarcity. The second photograph is of bladder campions, considered a weed in North America but not to this photographer!
I haven’t been out as often as I’d like with my camera but seeing and photographing this beauty, made up for some missed opportunities. Trilliums are the official flower of Ontario yet I never come across them in great numbers. Their growing period is a short one, this trillium looked like it was celebrating the season.
As is often the case, spring arrives slowly to my part of the country, the temperature going from very cool to very warm within days. The woodlands remain quiet, but gradually the birds return and the trees and other vegetation begin to bud and then suddenly burst with colour and sweet smells. These flowers were just budding last week, now there’s so much that catches my eye, it’s hard to chose what to photograph. The perfect dilemma!
We returned to the Tulip Festival for a second time on a hot sunny day this week. Many of the flowers were at their peak although not all as you can see in the first photo. The tulips are selected in such a way that there are continuous blooms throughout the three week span of the festival. I plan to get back once more before it ends, the riot of colour is hard to resist.
Canada’s Tulip Festival is a yearly event in Ottawa that takes place each May. We decided to go before the official opening in order to avoid the crowds. There are many varieties of tulips in bloom with many yet to come over the three weekends of the festival. After a break from photography this past cold winter it was a pleasure to get out again with our cameras, coming home with muddy knees from taking close ups of the flowers.
I took a walk in my neighbourhood and saw more evidence of spring. More birds chirping, crocus wearing their colours, tulips coming up and one brave daffodil in bloom (it’s still in the single digits celsius most mornings). Today’s flowers were taken around this time last year, so they are another nod to the season that’s slowly approaching.
The Anemone in the first photo was taken in its prime. The New England Aster in the second, though still lovely, was beginning to fade. It is a more durable wildflower and was around to enjoy and photograph for weeks longer than the first. I used to prefer photographing colourful flowers over the white varieties. However, lowering the exposure brings out the fine detail in white subjects, as in this example, revealing a subtle beauty that holds its own against its more colourful rivals.
