Beautiful plants in the Dolomites

[McDonough]

Cliff, the photos are spectacular, as are the views, almost surreal in their vastness is some cases.  In the photo of "flowering mats", what is the pink flowering plants that compose those mats?  And do I spy a bright pink allium or two in that view?

[IMYoung]

Another selection ...


 STAND OF GYMNADENIA

LEONTOPODIUM SCENE - QUITE PLEASED WITH THIS ONE!

 STAND OF GYMNADENIA : what a fine strong clump of the glorious fragrant orchid, Gymnadenia conopsea ---- it is conopsea in the Dolomites, I presume... not some other?

LEONTOPODIUM SCENE - QUITE PLEASED WITH THIS ONE!
 : too right.... what's not to be pleased about!??

[Booker]

Thanks folks ... Mark, the landscapes are magnificent and quite unlike any other mountains we have visited.  The pink cushions are mainly Gypsophila repens and the allium-like flowers are either Carduus defloratus ssp. defloratus or a dwarf Cirsium sp.
The only alliums we have seen in the Dolomites are Allium schoenoprasum ssp. alpinum; A. victorialis and A. insubricum (and then only twice in the case of A. insubricum).

ALLIUM SCHOENOPRASUM ssp. ALPINUM

[Booker]

Another selection ...


 STAND OF GYMNADENIA

LEONTOPODIUM SCENE - QUITE PLEASED WITH THIS ONE!

 STAND OF GYMNADENIA : what a fine strong clump of the glorious fragrant orchid, Gymnadenia conopsea ---- it is conopsea in the Dolomites, I presume... not some other?

LEONTOPODIUM SCENE - QUITE PLEASED WITH THIS ONE!
 : too right.... what's not to be pleased about!??

There are also Gymnadenia odoratissima in these mountains but these are, as you say, a shortish, but fine stand of G. conopsea.

I was 'quite pleased about that particular shot of the eidelweiss' because profile shots of very thin-stemmed blooms such as these  can be difficult to capture at the best of times but in this instance the wind was intermittently howling and the rock was surrounded by nettles, thistles and other foliar dissuasions. Still bearing the scars ... !!

[IMYoung]

I was 'quite pleased about that particular shot of the eidelweiss' because profile shots of very thin-stemmed blooms such as these  can be difficult to capture at the best of times but in this instance the wind was intermittently howling and the rock was surrounded by nettles, thistles and other foliar dissuasions. Still bearing the scars ... !!

 Often the case that one must suffer for the sake of art, Cliff! 

[David Sellars]

Anne:

They are spectacular photos.  I can understand why you go back there every year.

I was interested to read that you are using a compact digital camera.  I am convinced that they are much better for alpine flower photography than DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) cameras.  Apart from the lighter weight and ease of use they have a far superior depth of field because of the smaller image sensor. As a result more of the flower is in focus and it is often feasible to get the background in focus as well as the flower.  I am currently using a Sony DSC HX1.

[Hoy]

Cliff, all your photos are worth making postcards of!

[Spiegel]

Anne:

They are spectacular photos.  I can understand why you go back there every year.

I was interested to read that you are using a compact digital camera.  I am convinced that they are much better for alpine flower photography than DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) cameras.  Apart from the lighter weight and ease of use they have a far superior depth of field because of the smaller image sensor. As a result more of the flower is in focus and it is often feasible to get the background in focus as well as the flower.  I am currently using a Sony DSC HX1.

Hi David.  I know you've been in the Dolomites and can understand how beautiful everything is, more beautiful than the photos show.  Alan Bradshaw of Alplains Seeds was our houseguest once, and when I told him how much I admired his pictures, he showed me the camera he was using.  I wrote everything down and Joe and I made the camera our next purchase.  What a blessing it was to leave the old camera home with all its lenses etc.  It was quite heavy.  We don't normally use a tripod with this but we do carry a mini-tripod which is quite good when used for close-ups taken lying down.  Those are usually the ones I take, including the ones taken of Ranunculus seguirei in the manure field! Cliff Booker showed Joe how to get backgrounds in focus but I think the camera Cliff uses has more bells and whistles. 

[Booker]

Cliff Booker showed Joe how to get backgrounds in focus but I think the camera Cliff uses has more bells and whistles.  

More bells and whistles perhaps, Anne ... but still a tone deaf musically challenged operator!  

I insist that my best images were taken using a 3.4 megapixel Nikon 995 ... with a tiny image sensor and minute lens.

[David Sellars]

Anne:

We were back in the Strawberry Mountains in Oregon a few weeks ago revisiting some of the places we went together on the NARGS 2003 expedition.  It was on that trip that you "sold" us on visiting the Dolomites!

The flowers on Strawberry Mountain were a bit late this year and although we were there at about the same time as in 2003 we were too early to see the Epilobium obcordatum and Collomia debilis in flower.  But there were some nice Phlox and stunning Claytonia megarhiza.

[Spiegel]

David, I remember that trip.  Beautiful plants and an astragalus I could not identify, most frustrating.  And I do recall discussing the Dolomites with you, and later hearing that you went there.  Lovely pictures - were you too early for the Penstemon spatulatus?

[David Sellars]

Anne:

The Penstemon on Strawberry Mountain were not yet in flower.  We had a very cool wet June here in the Pacific Northwest which affected both snowmelt and flowering times.  Today we were in the North Cascades and some Anemone occidentalis were in flower where the snow had recently melted. I had never previously seen it in flower in August.

[Todd Boland]

Anne those photos are UNREAL!  What a spectacular place!  My mind is still spinning over all the fantastic pictures of such choice alpines.