One of the first (interesting) spring flowers that come up in the backyard garden are these Pasque Flowers (Pulsatilla vulgaris – formerly Anemone pulsatilla). I’ve photographed this plant a few times in the past, but it often flowers when we have a lot of rain and the flowers aren’t always this photogenic. I first became familiar with Pasque flowers by photographing the White Pasqueflower in Mount Rainer National Park. Pulsatilla vulgaris (native to Europe) are much smaller with similar seed heads but not nearly as tall as those seen in the mountains.
Early morning light on Mount Rainier and a wildflower meadow above Upper Tipsoo Lake – in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington State, USA
Mount Rainier and a meadow of wildflowers above Tipsoo Lake (Purchase)
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Showing up early in the morning at Tipsoo Lake in Mount Rainier National Park I was not surprised to see a number of photographers lining select parts of Upper Tipsoo Lake. Unfortunately, “the shot” people seem to want from there is off the trail, which is the second reason I probably will never have “the shot” from that location. On this morning, however, all the photographers were grumpy and lamented to me about the wind that was destroying any chance they had of getting a reflection. I pointed out to a few of them that climbing the hill might yield something interesting (this was the reason I was there). Nobody followed me. I am not necessarily against “trophy hunting” photography, of course I photograph some iconic locations as well. I do think those photographers would have been well served to climb the hill behind the lake to see what other perspectives might be available – especially after conditions were not favourable to their initial plans. The photograph above has a few elements I enjoy – nice light on the mountain and wildflowers in the foreground. I have already published one photograph of the same Mount Rainier sunrise from my climb of the hill. Neither of these would have been a photographic opportunity I would have had if I’d retreated to my car after failing to find the “the shot” I saw online.
Almost 2 months ago I went down to Mount Rainier National Park to view the wildflowers. Last week I posted some photos I made at Tipsoo Lake. Even on a weekday a National Park will be a busy place, so there were a lot of people hiking the trails and taking photos. For some compositions I waited for the people to be clear of my frame, but for others I tried to photograph what the people were doing on the trails. There was a lot of pointing and photographing this great display of wildflowers.
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Visitors to Mount Rainier National Park’s Wildflower display at Tipsoo Lake
Backlit Western Anemone or Pasque Flowers (Anemone occidentalis) at Tipsoo Lake in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington State, USA
Western Anenome – Wildflowers at Rainier (Purchase)
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In mid August I went to Mount Rainier National Park to view what was promising to be an impressive display of wildflowers. As the weather at the Paradise area generally did not allow for viewing of the mountain itself, I headed to Tipsoo Lake to see the display there. I was not disappointed! While I have not seen a full display at Paradise, which is rumored to be a bit better, I was quite impressed with what I saw at Tipsoo Lake. The first photograph here is of some Pasque Flowers or Western Anemone (Anemone occidentalis) seed heads that were nicely backlit by the setting sun near Upper Tipsoo Lake. There are also a few Paintbrush (Castilleja miniata), Broadleaf Lupines (Lupinus latifolius), Alpine Aster (Aster alpigenus), and Broadleaf Arnica (Arnica latifolia) in that photo.
Here are a few more wildflower photographs made around Tipsoo and Upper Tipsoo Lakes:
Wildflower meadows around Tipsoo Lake -click to enlarge-
