Rockfringe & Fern against Granite

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John Muir Wilderness, Inyo National Forest, Inyo County
late morning Saturday August 7, 1999, slide 99B_19-29
Olympus OM-4T, 50mm Zuiko macro, Benbo Trekker
Drum scanned 35mm Kodachrome 64 to 100mb RGB file
Adobe Photoshop 6.0 processed for accurate image fidelity
Lightjet5000 printed on Fuji Crystal Archive paper
signature top left

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It was late morning. The sun had risen too high for any more broad scenic images though I continued exploring higher up in the Wonder Lakes basin with my eye more on small features like wildflowers. Some thin mid level clouds were forming which subdued the harsh lighting one finds mid summer at such Sierra elevations above 11,000 feet. I was seeing quite a bit of prime rock fringe at the base of many cliffs and boulders so sharpened my eye to all magenta. Came upon this ledge with rock fringe and fern then immediately set to work in order to take some images.

The problem was, the 1 foot or so deep few feet long ledge was up at head height part of a large glacially shaped granite wall. Thus I removed my daypack, reached up placing my tripod and camera safely on the ledge, then hoisted my body up to gain working access. The Benbo Trekker is photography's most acrobatic of tripods with a unique British design weaned from machine gun tripod mounts. It is particularly useful for low contorted positioning with the three legs reaching to otherwise impossible bracing points. I recall trying several bizarre positions at the brink of the ledge since I needed to put some distance from the rock fringe in order to image the full frame and get adequate depth of field. One leg ended up below the ledge against my boot where I glued the sole to an awkward foothold. Eventually I managed positioning for this frame but then had a considerable wait. Clouds needed to thin enough to provide enough illumination and simultaneously needed a lull in the minor breeze which was more often than not. Over a long while made several images with this one of the brightest moments.

Rock fringe, epilobium obcordatum, is one of the more striking high elevation Sierra Nevada wildflowers not only because of its inch to inch and a half long heart shaped rose colored petals but also because it frequently grows in dense linear clusters at the base of picturesque boulders and monolithic rock walls or ledges. Flower center is the female pistil, a long style ending in a velvety deep magenta stigma. Around it are five male stamens with short filaments ending in light bulb bright white anthers off which comes pollen one can see as small bright dots. Mrs Bee flies in with sticky pollen from other flowers and bumps up against the stigma leaving some other flower's pollen. Then while rumbling about at the center bumps up against the short anthers receiving new pollen before flying away. In this image a number of buds are still fully enclosed by darker maroon sepals. In the left corner a few are just now giving slow plant speed birth to emerging petals. Behind the dominating petals one can see the small round dull blue green leaves which at this point in summer have already done most of their work harnessing the sun's energy for organic chemical production.

Behind against the speckled granite wall are blades of a petty cliff fern, woodsia scopulina. The pinnately lobed leaflet blades narrow to an aesthetic acute tip. Below at left one can see last years dried remains. Looking at these two I can almost imagine the ferns twisting their heads about to see which rosy beauty they will ask to dance with. A conscious joy of lovely maidens in this mid summer morning sun.

Crop at 100% print size:

   David Senesac
   email: sales@davidsenesac.com

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