A return to Beasore Meadows in the Sierras

Often when out taking photographs I come across scenes I know would be better at a different time of day or under better conditions. Like most photography enthusiasts I hate sunny days, especially in the afternoon when it glares.

In this case I had come across a beautiful nearby stream where the plein air painting group had our amazing picnic. While our host Doug was grilling away I set about exploring and found this group of sneeze weed flowers blooming next to this meandering creek. I thought I had taken some great photos of the scene but felt I'd rushed myself and could have done better.

A week later I returned in an attempt to give it a better try. Unfortunately the summer sun had returned and totally changed the conditions and feel of the location. Never the less I saw new possibilities. Maybe changing the depth of field so the creek was more blurred but still noticeable as a creek. The sky was blue and that seemed a nice compliment to the yellow flowers.

Unfortunately the wind was not cooperating with my plans. These spindly flowers were moving like crazy with the slightest breeze. I had my aperture as wide as it would go on my little point and shoot and tried speeding up the shutter. I guess it was OK but I was really feeling the need for a more capable camera.  A problem which I'm happy to say will soon be fixed. Of course finally having a decent SLR will cause another problem because I'll have nothing to blame my weak photos on.

On the drive out we passed a small meadow filled with flowers and cattle. Finding a thin area to partially pull off nearby I told my son and his dog you can stay here if you like but I'm going back to photograph that meadow with the cows. Upon approaching the cows I gave a little arm waving whoop and they scattered in a cloud of dust. Didn't think such a small whoop would spook them so much. Was kind of expecting to get a few cow pics with them, but they were soon hidding in the shadowy edge of the meadow.

Once I started getting into the meadow it just kept rewarding me with one amazing picture op after another.

Soon I was chasing butterflies and light. It's a place I could spend a whole day in. The meadow was quickly getting shadowed my the trees when I remembered I had a tired son and dog back at the car waiting to head home. It was a fun day watching his dog run loose and rolling in the meadows. She was in doggy heaven and gave us a scare a few times when she headed into the woods following some irresistible scent. Fortunately she didn't go too far. Definitely a place I will return to again. If you're local and want to see the flower show there you better hurry fast because this has been a very dry year and they're not going to last long.

I'm going to close this post with a shot that was near the sneeze weed flowers by the creek. I'm realizing I need to get a polarizing filter to pull shots like this one off. I will have to return and try and do this shot again. Loved the reflection of the culvert in the water. Now and then I could see a fair sized trout in it. Hmmm, that made me hungry, think it't time for dinner.