The Making of "Balsam Root and Lupin"

How the winning photo of the May contest was made

By BobKG in Photo Contests on Jun 27, 2020

"Balsam Root and Lupin" by BobKG

I would like to thank everyone who nominated and voted for my photo. It was truly an honor to win your votes as there were so many great photos submitted.

I have been using Pentax cameras for most of my life, starting with my Spotmatic in the late 1960s (it still works). I entered the digital age in 2011 with the purchase of a used K200D. I then bought a new K-3 in 2016 and love this camera. In 2018 I obtained the Rokinon 16mm F2.0 lens primarily for astrophotography. I also found it to be excellent for landscape photography and used it for the photo I entered in this contest.

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My goal for this photo was to show the wildflower bloom in the context of its unique environment. The picture was taken at the Dalles Mountain Ranch in the Columbia Gorge. Several years ago the ranch was donated to the state of Washington and is now a park. One can find an abandoned farm house and barn, old farm equipment and that wonderful rusting car on the park property. I was intrigued by the juxtaposition of the new wild flower bloom with the old, rusting car.

The photo was taken hand held with the K3 and Rokinon 16mm lens at F13, ISO 200 and 1/60 second. This allowed me to get both the flowers and car in focus. Post processing was done in Lightroom 6. I cropped the photo to balance the car in the background with the flowers in the foreground. Minor adjustments were made in the basic Lightroom panel for saturation and sharpness.

The original uncropped photo

As one who is interested in landscape photography I feel very fortunate to live in Oregon. There are many special places to photograph and the Columbia Gorge in the spring is truly amazing. The wild flower blooms are incredible and a joy to photograph.

Thank you again for honoring my picture of balsam root and lupine.

BobKG

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