And let’s not leave out the rocks
Adding to the claim that the prolific coreopsis held on a nature photographer
at Inks Lake State Park on May 25th were the colorfully lichen-covered rocks there.
The Lady Eve, initially glimpsing the second photograph from across the room,
thought she was looking at a waterfall. Stand far back and see what you think.
© 2019 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
I agree with the Lady Eve.
Gallivanta
June 2, 2019 at 5:53 AM
It’s always good to agree with the Lady Eve, who has a knack for seeing things in images.
I was thinking about you a short while ago and now here you are.
Steve Schwartzman
June 2, 2019 at 5:58 AM
Yes, here I am. I came home to much water, in the form of a winter storm. Rather a shock after a week of beautiful Fiji sunshine.
Gallivanta
June 2, 2019 at 9:56 PM
Then happy retrospective sunshine to you. Just three more weeks and your daylight will begin to lengthen again (as ours will begin to decline).
Steve Schwartzman
June 2, 2019 at 10:05 PM
That’s a happy thought for me.
Gallivanta
June 2, 2019 at 11:30 PM
And I’m happy to be a bearer of bright tidings for you.
Steve Schwartzman
June 3, 2019 at 6:49 AM
I really like the second image, just as it is, although I would have to agree with the lady Eve as well.
melissabluefineart
June 2, 2019 at 7:56 AM
I was already quite happy with the second image because of its colors and composition. Eve added another vision.
Steve Schwartzman
June 2, 2019 at 8:20 AM
Yes.
melissabluefineart
June 4, 2019 at 7:53 AM
Wow really beautiful. I feel like I can feel that rock from here, its texture comes across nicely. The concept of seeing a waterfall is quite interesting; nice eye, Lady Eve. Also I really enjoy those little flowers, they blend in quite well with the colors of the rock, seems they’re collaborating on a beautiful scene. 😉 Thanks for sharing.
eLPy
June 2, 2019 at 9:41 AM
You’re welcome, and I appreciate your enthusiasm. You can imagine mine as I scampered about this scenic landscape taking dozens and dozens of pictures. Maybe another time I’ll go back and pay more attention to the lichen-covered rocks in their own right.
Steve Schwartzman
June 2, 2019 at 9:59 AM
😀 I sure can!
eLPy
June 4, 2019 at 12:56 PM
Rock on! Do you remember Pet Rock? It was invented here in Los Gatos.
tonytomeo
June 2, 2019 at 12:26 PM
These were my pet rocks last week.
Steve Schwartzman
June 2, 2019 at 1:19 PM
Did they follow you home?
tonytomeo
June 2, 2019 at 2:41 PM
In pictures they did.
Steve Schwartzman
June 2, 2019 at 7:35 PM
Autographed pictures like you get from other rock stars, or just in your camera?
tonytomeo
June 2, 2019 at 7:45 PM
They’re autographed with a copyright notice.
Steve Schwartzman
June 2, 2019 at 8:37 PM
?
tonytomeo
June 2, 2019 at 8:49 PM
A waterfall is safer than a rock fall. Those are nice combinations with the flowers.
Steve Gingold
June 2, 2019 at 4:03 PM
They enchanted me. I don’t recall any previous pictures like these two.
Steve Schwartzman
June 2, 2019 at 7:34 PM
Enchanted–a perfect description of these images.
Tina
June 2, 2019 at 8:34 PM
It may not be too late to get some of that enchantment for yourself at Inks Lake State Park.
Steve Schwartzman
June 2, 2019 at 8:38 PM
Stunningly beautiful rocks and flowers in your photos. Though different colours, they brought to mind my visits to the grasslands in Saskatchewan where we also saw very beautiful lichen on the rocks.
artsofmay
June 2, 2019 at 9:06 PM
It was a combination of flowers and lichened rocks like nothing I’d seen before.
I’ve never been to Saskatchewan, but you’re enticing me. The closest I came was Alberta, which was fabulous.
Steve Schwartzman
June 2, 2019 at 10:03 PM
Alberta is magnificent. We were also surprised at how deeply beautiful we found Saskatchewan. We had never seen prairies. We took afternoon hikes in Grasslands National Park which is a wonderful place.
artsofmay
June 3, 2019 at 8:04 AM
I’d not heard of Grasslands National Park but have added it to my mental list of places worth visiting. I see on a map that it borders Montana. On my Alberta trip I spent a couple of days in the other Canadian park that borders Montana, Waterton Lakes National Park.
Steve Schwartzman
June 3, 2019 at 8:15 AM
I hear Waterton is beautiful. We haven’t yet been there. I’m glad to have let you know about Grasslands National Park.
artsofmay
June 3, 2019 at 8:21 AM
We visited Waterton at a time of wildfires in the region, so the air was smoky (in fact approaching fires caused authorities to close the park shortly after we left). Still, we enjoyed our stay and I managed to take plenty of pictures:
https://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/?s=waterton
Steve Schwartzman
June 3, 2019 at 8:36 AM
Thank you for the link to your Waterton posts. Being a kid at heart, I loved the one with inverted colours and, of course, the ground squirrel.
artsofmay
June 3, 2019 at 8:57 AM
I rarely show any photo trickery, but, like you, the kid in me occasionally comes out.
Steve Schwartzman
June 3, 2019 at 9:03 AM
Dos fotografías muy bonitas, aunque la primera me parece extraordinaria. Gracias.
¡Buen día!
Isabel F. Bernaldo de Quirós
June 3, 2019 at 3:06 AM
Como una versión floral de una parte de Stonehenge, ¿verdad? Y no menosprecio la contribución de las nubes.
Steve Schwartzman
June 3, 2019 at 7:15 AM
This spring I saw — but couldn’t photograph so well — another place where the flowers and rocks combined in just this way: the Willow City loop. The flowers were thick, the rocks (covered in similar lichens) were equally interesting, and places I’ve only seen covered in dry grasses were breathtaking.
In this post and the previous one, those cloudy skies really set off the flowers. One of the issues I had to deal with was a combination of perfectly clear skies and harsh, noontime light. It’s interesting that the flowers in these photos seem perfectly bright and beautiful, despite the clouds.
shoreacres
June 3, 2019 at 5:18 AM
Were you able to get close to the rocks on the Willow City Loop? So much of the land there is unfortunately off-limits. One reason I recommended Inks Late State Park last week is that you can wander (and therefore take pictures) freely.
Yes, the cloudy skies worked well here to set off the wildflowers and also, as you said, to soften the otherwise harsh midday light. Even so, in processing these images in Adobe Camera Raw, I still had to drag the Highlights slider way down and the Shadows slider way up to create more even lighting.
Steve Schwartzman
June 3, 2019 at 7:30 AM
Even a stone can be a teacher (Thomas Merton). These rocks are thus Deans of the University of life 🙂
kindnesscrush
June 3, 2019 at 5:59 AM
Well said! I’m happy to enroll in that university.
Steve Schwartzman
June 3, 2019 at 7:31 AM
Gorgeous!
nakedfeethappygirl
June 4, 2019 at 7:33 AM
I agree!
Steve Schwartzman
June 4, 2019 at 10:00 AM
Look at the man in it!
Elisa
June 5, 2019 at 5:37 AM
I hadn’t noticed. Thanks for pointing it out.
Steve Schwartzman
June 5, 2019 at 6:19 AM
I have never used this phrase as a compliment until now: you’ve got rocks in your head! These are gorgeous.
Michael Scandling
June 7, 2019 at 7:21 AM
Rocks like those I’m happy to have in my head. For a nature photographer, they’re better to have in one’s head than visions of sugar plums.
Steve Schwartzman
June 7, 2019 at 8:38 AM
An excellent point, sir.
Michael Scandling
June 7, 2019 at 11:01 AM
Then we’re in agreement.
Steve Schwartzman
June 7, 2019 at 9:02 PM
Absolutely delightful!
Julie@frogpondfarm
June 9, 2019 at 2:22 PM
It’s nice to have some central Texas rocks to show you for a change.
Steve Schwartzman
June 9, 2019 at 8:33 PM
[…] visited exactly one year earlier. Because of the continuing drought, the place wasn’t the coreopsis-covered wonderland we’d found there in the spring of 2019. One thing that caught my attention last week that […]
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