Photos from Ijams Nature Center

I went to Ijams Nature Center Saturday intending to get some nice pictures of the wildflowers. The first half of the walk was actually pretty boring. All there really were were yellow trilliums. I think they've got an understated elegance, and are quite cool. However, I was looking for more color! More action! More suspense!

Ok, really just more color.

I eventually found it once I got to the riverwalk area. I found these really cool (and small) yellow and orange flowers:

From Ijams - 2010-04-03

I'll note that most pictures starting with those in this album were taken handheld with macro tubes on my 50mm prime lens. What this means is that generally the pictures were taken with me swaying back and forth snapping as many photos as possible in hopes that at least a couple from each set would be both in focus and have a reasonable depth of field. I've selected at least one from each batch to put in the album. They're not all great or even good, but gives an idea of what I saw. For the full effect of the coolness of the macro tubes, you should check out the full size photos (12MP) and see the cool level of detail on some of these things.

That's my long way of saying - sorry if they're blurry.

I was out around mid afternoon, which isn't the greatest time for flower shots. The sun is a bit harsh, and I don't have a hood for the lens I was using.

Aside from some really cool flower shots, I also saw an owl! It was way cool - I actually tracked it by its hooting. It seems like it might live above the visitor's center there.

Anyway, a couple of select shots follow. For the full album, hit up Picasa here.

From Ijams - 2010-04-03

From Ijams - 2010-04-03

From Ijams - 2010-04-03

From Ijams - 2010-04-03