While jeeping in the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado this summer, we came upon a “lifer” wildflower for me … the Yellow Paintbrush, also known as the Western Paintbrush (Castilleja occidentalis). That makes 3 different colors of Paintbrush found in the area! A short time ago, I featured a rose-colored Paintbrush (“Shades of Red”) and (“Yankee Boy Basin, Colorado”). In another post, I will feature the typical red paintbrush that I am used to seeing in the Midwest, where I live. I was told that the 3 different colors grow at different altitudes (I didn’t write it down, but I think that the bright red grows at the lower altitudes, the rosy paintbrush grows at a bit higher altitude, and the yellow paintbrush grows even higher).
Here is a Yellow Paintbrush bud, just beginning to open:
And an open paintbrush flower:
And, still playing with focus-stacking techniques, I shot 15 individual images, each with a different focusing point on the flower, and later combined them using Helicon Focus software:
A very interesting wildflower! I especially love the contrast of the cream color to the burgundy veins and leaf margins.
Photographic Equipment Used:
- Canon 5D Mark 3 body
- Canon EF180mm, f/3.5 macro lens
- Bogen 3221 tripod with Graff Studioball SB-QR ballhead
- ISO 500
- Aperture f/16
- Shutter 1/30 sec. to 1/80 sec.