The appearance of spring wildflowers is always quite a spectacle with so many colors and shapes bringing life back to the forest but as spectacular as all these plants are it with the blooming of the Giant White Trillium that Mother Nature really pulls out all the stops. Huge white flowers atop tall, sturdy stalks growing in bunches under the trees put on a show unmatched for the rest of the season (with the possible exception of some of the native wild orchids).As I was shooting this photo I heard something rustling in the leaves nearby but was concentrating on the shot and didn't look. It wasn't until after I'd taken the shot that I noticed the small American Toad that had hopped into the scene in the lower left-hand corner of the frame.
Shooting Triliums is tricky business. Because of their large size and pure white color and the extreme contrast between sun and shade surrounding them, they wreck havoc with the camera's metering system making a little experimentation with exposure compensation a must in order to avoid overexposure of the flower's petals. This compensation corrects the exposure in the brightest areas but unfortunately somewhat darkens the photo overall causing even more detail to be lost in the shadows. This is where photoshop comes in handy!
I love trilliums!!! Great shot and I love that the little toad snuck in there! I didn't see him until you mentioned him in your narrative. I can't remember if I told you that I like the wren photo alot too.
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