Tag Archives: spring

Lady Slipper

Lady Slipper

Spring moves along. Each passing week brings more exciting flowers to discover while walking in the woods. Lady Slippers are just making an appearance around the region. This is the first one I found in bloom. There were about a dozen more in various stages of getting ready to bloom. Now that I found the pink ones, I’ll be looking for some yellow ones. The two different color varieties prefer different environments.

A Fun Guy

Large fungus

A bad pun, but a pretty (to me) image. I happened upon this fungus while strolling along the Potomac River at Ball’s Bluff park. There are large areas filled with the Virginia Bluebells. Part of the credit for preserving the Bluebells goes to Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy for removing invasive mustard plants. Thanks! It makes my photography easier. Ball’s Bluff National Battlefield Park is the home to many types of wildflowers. I’ll have to try and count the ones I have seen over the years.

A Spring Favorite

Shooting Stars on a bluff at Ball’s Bluff

Sometimes when walking along in the woods, I come across a new (to me) flower. This happened last year when I saw the Shooting Stars. Unfortunately I found them just days before access to the park was limited due to the pandemic. Only a few flowers were open at that time. I was determined to visit them again this year and have been back several times so far. There are several dozen plants in various stages of blooming. I crawl around on knee pads and yoga mat trying to get as low as possible. I like the effect of getting down to ground level for the shots.

Shooting Star blossoms

The second image was made with a long lens and extension tube. The combination helps to isolate the flower from the background by using a wide aperture.