Rocky Mountain Wildflowers — nature photography

Recently Bernie and I joined a Colorado Native Plant Society group for an informative outing at Mount Evans. We began our trek at the Mt. Goliath trailhead at 12,100 feet and followed it downward through the Bristlecone area of Mount Evans along the Walter Pesman trail. Many of the flowers we discovered were tiny, ¼ inch or less as our altitude was comparable to northern Canada’s tundra or to the Arctic Circle. We marveled at how these plants grow in such a harsh environment and learned some of their survival secrets. Along the steep rocky trail we spotted the following...

This week my husband and I drove into Buckskin Gulch in the Mosquito Range of South Park, Colorado. The mountains were still covered with winter’s snows but along the roadside and in the meadows, wildflowers were beginning to add color to the landscape. Sky Pilot, Alpine Sandwort, Alp Lily, Chickweed, Old Man of the Mountain, Alpine Phlox and Wallflower were some of the notable flowers growing among the grasses, rocks and around the Bristlecone Pines at 11,500 feet.        Bristlecone and Wallflowers The Wallflowers especially were putting on a show. Bright yellow clumps were springing up everywhere, but what...

Photographing wildflowers close up, remember your camera records everything you see in the view finder or on the LCD screen. It will record the beauty of your subject when it is sharply focused and it pops out from its background that is kept out of focus. Be mindful, your camera will also record ugly dead sticks, wilting petals or even bug-eaten leaves. In close up shots, make the flowers look at you, which means that often you will have to get down to the same level as the flower that is just inches off the ground.    Pasque Flower and...

Here are some excerpts from a review for Rocky Mountain Wildflowers Field Guide that appeared in "The Mountain Mail"---Salida, CO--- Friday, March 14, 2014. Review by Dr Arlene Shovald <writerarlene@optimum.net>  It won’t be long before Rocky Mountain wildflowers are back, and for those who enjoy the outdoors, A South Park couple has compiled a Field Guide to identify many of the blossoms you might encounter. Linda S. Nagy is the author of the recently published "Rocky Mountain Wildflowers Field Guide," with photographs by her husband, Bernie Nagy.            Linda edited Bernie’s previous award-winning coffee table  books, “Colorado’s South Park – High Country Paradise,” “South Park,...

                                    Curious free-roaming burros near Eleven Mile Reservoir In March of 2014 Bernie and I got up close and personal with a healthy looking wild burro herd near Eleven  Mile Reservoir. The burros enjoyed bits and pieces of an apple that we cut up and offered to them. Look at the one picture where the burro in the center is eying the delicious apple in my hand. More pictures and images of these beautiful animals can be found in our award-winning coffee table books Colorado’s South Park: High Country Paradise on pages 92 and 93 and South Park Colorado: Nature’s...