Pushing Up and Through

It’s spring in Montana but here on The Ranch, you might not know that depending on where you look and when. Our wildflowers have just started to appear, patches of yellow and red are sprinkled here and there. Sage Lily is one of the first just opening up in the last couple of days. But snow is still falling and while not in thick blankets, it is confusing to critters and plants alike. When we woke up yesterday morning to more light snow, I thought I would hit the hillside and see what was up to greet the day with me.

I walked up the slope with just the Z 9 / Z105mc in hand attached to the Platypod eXtreme with the Platyball attached. The snows were moving on leaving a light cloud cover with a nice saturated light. I gently, slowly, carefully walked the slope looking for a candidate of yellow in white. I wanted a background as far away from the blossom as I could fine with the freshest blossom. Using the LCD, I would look through the lens to get a sense of the background prior to putting the rig on the ground. Once satisfied with the light, angle, and background, I set the rig down and make all the lines right. Holding my breath so I didn’t fog up the LCD, I manually focused using Focus Peaking to define my plane of focus so I could shoot wide open. It was a marvelous time made only better to walk inside to a waiting cup of hot coffee.