Untamed Images Blog

The rolling, oak-covered hills of the Diablo Range form a scenic backdrop for the burst of color provided by California poppies in bloom.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III, EF24-70mm f/2.8L USM at 24 mm, 1/40 sec at f/14, ISO 200

Actually, spring got an early start in our area as these photos can attest. In early March I had come across some online reports of promising wildflower sightings in Pacheco State Park, so Alison and I decided to take a quick day trip to see for ourselves. We were not disappointed.

A reminder: you can click any image to see a larger (higher-res) version.

California poppies decorate a hillside below a lone oak tree at Pacheco State Park.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III, EF24-70mm f/2.8L USM at 25 mm, 1/50 sec at f/14, ISO 200

We wound up hiking farther than we had intended, and I tired myself out carrying my camera backpack for the first time in a while, but after seeing the landscape awash in the brilliant hues of spring flowers, we both agreed that it was well worth it.

Multiple wildflower species were blooming in early March, 2016 at Pacheco State Park.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III, EF24-70mm f/2.8L USM at 34 mm, 1/100 sec at f/11, ISO 200

Wind turbines and spring wildflowers create an interesting juxtaposition between nature's beauty and man's imprint on the landscape.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III, EF24-70mm f/2.8L USM at 45 mm, 1/40 sec at f/14, ISO 200

I photographed this Butterfly Orchid (Psychopsis papilio) in a makeshift indoor studio set up in my living room.

Several months ago Alison and I were browsing in a shop specializing in orchids when we noticed one particular plant featuring a spectacular single flower. Unfortunately, the flower was past its prime and was showing some minor flaws that would be unacceptable in a photograph. The florist promised that the plant would generate additional flowers, so we bought the plant and since then I have been waiting anxiously for another flower to materialize, knowing a fresh flower would make a beautiful macro photograph.

This type of orchid has a great deal of front-to-back depth which presented a challenge. I wanted to capture all the flower’s detail, but even using a very small aperture (such as f/22) would not provide sufficient depth-of-field to contain the entire flower. The solution to the problem was to take a series of images, varying the focus of the lens on each image, and then to combine the images in post-processing to preserve as much detail as possible. The photograph above is a composite of seven individual images, focused in regular increments from the “lip” in the front to the stalk in the back.