Bendix Woods Revisited

My apologies for the long delay between blog posts.

I’ve just returned to the Midwest from my trip to California–12 full days at Yosemite National Park, the Eastern Sierra and redwood country.  The trip went very well and I’ll begin chronicling it in the relatively near future.  But it’s going to take me quite some time to process all of the images I brought back so the next series of posts will cover some Midwest day trips I managed to cram in back in April, beginning with Bendix Woods County Park in northwest Indiana.

Bendix Woods County Park, St. Joseph County, Indiana

Bendix Woods County Park, St. Joseph County, Indiana

I first paid a visit to Bendix Woods last year.  Bendix has among the most impressive displays of large-flowered trillium I’ve ever seen so this year I met my friend Danny Burk there on a partly cloudy, rather breezy day.  The conditions weren’t ideal but we tried to make them work by spending a fair amount of time waiting for lulls in the wind and clouds to block the sun.  Our concern was that if we waited for a less windy, more cloudy day the flowers would be past peak by then.  So, we made do.

Bendix Woods County Park, St. Joseph County, Indiana

Bendix Woods County Park, St. Joseph County, Indiana

When I got to the site there was nothing but bright, contrasty sunshine on hand, so I spent about an hour wandering around the park on a series of trails.  I was most intrigued by an unmarked path that I hadn’t traversed the year before.  This was where we would ultimately spend just about all of our time this afternoon.

Bendix Woods County Park, St. Joseph County, Indiana

Bendix Woods County Park, St. Joseph County, Indiana

Danny arrived just as it was beginning to cloud up a bit and for the next few hours we had periodic bursts of even light, which we hastened to take advantage of.

Bendix Woods County Park, St. Joseph County, Indiana

Bendix Woods County Park, St. Joseph County, Indiana

Despite the wind, I engaged in a fair amount of focus bracketing for the purpose of focus stacking during the post processing phase of image development.  (I know I promised to produce a post on the concept and process of focus stacking and will attempt to meet that obligation in the near future.)

Bendix Woods County Park, St. Joseph County, Indiana

Bendix Woods County Park, St. Joseph County, Indiana

My final image of the day was the only one that eschewed the carpet of flowers at my feet and was the only one made when the sun was out.

Bendix Woods County Park, St. Joseph County, Indiana

My next couple of posts will detail my experiences at several locations in northern Illinois.