Spring Daffodils at Squalicum Harbor in Bellingham

Low to the Ground with Fill Flash

With beautiful puffy white clouds in the skies, intermittent sunshine, and fresh daffodils growing everywhere, I headed to Squalicum Harbor in Bellingham, Wash.

Nice Bokeh and Shallow Depth of Field: Cropped Version of the Last Image

As I was driving past the harbor a few days ago, I saw them growing alongside the trail. However, the day was gray and cloudy and has been since. A typical Pacific Northwest spring. Today, the gray made way for blue. Since I’ve wanted to at least get a shot, I drove down there and to my surprise, plenty more were growing.

Squalicum Harbor Boats

The first few shots I used my 80-200 at f/4 on my D300s to get shallow depth of field. This to show a hint of the boats in the background. They were OK, but not what I wanted. So I set up my tripod, placed my 17-35 on the camera, used my B+W ND64 (6 stop) neutral density filter, and stacked that with my polarizing filter. I used the ND to get a longer shutter speed and the Polarizing filter to get deep blue sky to add contrast with the white clouds.

Using various shutter speeds, I played with the exposure. After a few shots, I added my SB800 Nikon flash using generic Best Deal radio triggers. I then removed the ND and used just the polarizing to keep the contrast in the sky. Then I laid low on the ground and shot up to the blooms to make them seem huge. To emphasize one of the blooms, I moved in close and shot wide open to narrow the depth of field.

Getting Low and Using Fill Flash

A nice day to play with a little color and have some fun. And in typical Northwest fashion, the clouds roll back in and here comes the rain. The second image in this post is a cropped version of the one below. I’m debating which one I like better. Both have their merits. Which one do you like and why? Post your choice and reason below.