Rainy but fun flower hunting

Well, the weekend at Flora-Quest was a BLAST!!! Many thanks to Cheryl Harner (aka The Weedpicker) for organizing this great event, and also thanks to the volunteer staff who help Cheryl carry out her vision.  My group saw lots of great flowers, including some rarities for the state, in addition to some great birds.  The weather was a little sloppy, but not enough to spoil the fun.

Rainy weather does make it challenging when it comes to photography, though.  One common problem that occurs is condensation on the lens.  On one hand it makes it hard to focus, but on the other hand it makes for some cool effects that don't require any kind of special equipment, making for some very soft, and sometimes surreal, photos, like this one of Foamflower:


The only modification I made was to bump up the contrast a little, but the glowing look is all thanks to condensation on my lens.

I was delighted to meet a number of people at the event who hail from the Athens area. What a small world it is! If one of you is reading this, remember that my email address is accessible if you click on my profile link at the top of the page if you'd like to keep in touch. Otherwise, I hope I'll run into you in town!

More pictures to follow in a few days. Tomorrow I'll be prepping for my first volunteer naturalist's class!