Wildflowers of Iron Mountain and Cone Peak Trails

When I came home from our Iron Mountain hike, I had to sort through several hundred photos. The easiest to delete were out of focus or seemed to have no purpose. I was still left with an unmanageable number. So I asked myself which were the best and created a temporary folder. I have found temporary folders let me play with the various images without deleting anything I might later regret.

The ones that didn't make it into the temporary folder were still good, to me, (some are above). But too many photos in a slide show leave the viewer tired before they reach the end.

Because I didn't want to download the photos one by one to Picasa, I downloaded Picasa software (free from Google) for my desktop which enables uploading a whole folder at once. I had already experienced the benefits of that kind of software having done it when I had a Flickr site. It apparently is going to also now be my primary way to view them on my computer. So far it looks good, but I am still considering how I like their tools.

For the completed slide show, I would have enjoyed adding music although imagination can provide the best music. If you click on my link, just imagine the sounds of birds, the breeze in the trees, boots crunching on gravel, maybe low voices from other hikers on the trail.

Iron Mountain and Cone Peak Wildflowers

All photos were taken with Canon Rebel Xsi using the Canon 18-55mm or 55-250mm lenses both with Image Stabilizers.

Halfway through the hike, I learned something new about my camera. It came out of frustration as in the shade of the tall pines, hemlocks and cedars I kept trying to photograph a small flower, which should be called Mountain Orchid if it is not. Every image looked washed out. Finally I asked Farm Boss what can I do to make this work, and he explained it to me.

Using a setting labeled Tv which enables changing the shutter speed depending on the light and the desired effect, I saw most photographs right from my camera exactly as I wanted them (still cropping some to emphasize points that show up more clearly in a photo than I might have seen while framing them).

Years ago when using our 35 mm cameras, I had learned about shutter speed and how it can enhance a photo but never had learned how to do it with the digital. The camera had taken such good photos on automatic that I hadn't explored its capabilities.

Because I am not someone who learns technical things well from books and do best when I am actually doing it, I tend to put off reading manuals. Just because my camera can take nice photos on automatic doesn't mean it can't take great ones if I take the time to learn and use those tools. I like that it makes me feel more in control of the photograph. What I get then is not so much an accident or luck but my planning and recognizing the conditions.