Lard of the Ring

Another freezing bike ride this morning; this time along the river around Uffington.  At least there was a decent variety of wild flowers.  Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) were out in abundance, as were Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), and Large-flowered Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum).  I saw some Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica) too, but they weren't in those big, colorful patches that I remember from past years.

This was the first time that I took my new Sigma EM-140 DG ring flash out in the field.  It really made a difference, because besides being cold and cloudy, it was also windy.  The flash allowed me to stop down my aperture for better depth of field and still achieve a shutter speed that minimized the effect of wind motion.   The only problem was that the batteries were fading, causing longer and longer recycle times for the flash.

Here are four of my favorites:

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)

Because it was kind of early in the day (11 a.m.) and cold, it was had to find a Bloodroot brave (or stupid) enough to open up its petals.

Red Trillium (Trillium erectum)

The depth of field on this Trillium shot is pretty decent, too.  You can also see a difference that the ring flash makes in lighting the subject.  A shot taken last year relied entirely on sunlight for the exposure, so I lost some of the vivid color in the flower petals.

Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum) 

Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria)