BFK Photography

Took a long weekend down to the Smokies a couple of weeks ago, to get some of the beautiful wildflowers that bloom so profusely there, I came across this scene off the Little Pigeon River.

It was getting very close to dark which gave it this blue color and mood, I could tell by the footprints that this subject had been shot pretty frequently so if you see the same shot somewhere on the web I promise I didn’t steal it !!

In between all the wildflower images I captured this year I was able to gather quite a few of these tasty little morsels, or should I say Morels, this little guy is the Black Morel one of the best edible mushrooms that grow anywhere.

You can usually find them in a lot of the same places that I get most of my wildflower images, deep humus rich hardwood forest with an abundance of Poplar or Black Cherry trees. If you can find the “right” place in the woods ( a very closely kept secret) and the conditions are right you can definitely pick a great harvest of this fungus.

I usually find my biggest crops after a few nights of 50 degree or higher temps and couple good soaking rains, finding them by the hundreds is not unheard of, but to be quite honest I couldn’t possible eat that many so I now leave plenty to propagate for the next years crop. I also like to make sure I pinch them off at the stem as not to disturb the underground system that keeps them coming back, and when picking them I always carry a potato bag so that the spoors can fall from the bag and reseed the population.

There is also the Yellow and White Morels in this area as well, but not nearly as many as the Black, that are just as edible. Just be very sure of what you are eating because there is just not that many mushrooms that you can go out and pick and bring home to eat, it is always better to go with someone who has hunted them for a while to make sure you know what you are doing.

Shot at Clifty Falls Park, there has been an abundance of wildflowers this year, especially abundant is the Wild Phlox a beautiful purple to light blue wildflower that grows in deep rich woodlands and gorges that dot our countryside.

They can grow in individual little clumps are in clusters as large as 20-30 plants, they grow to about 12 inches tall and their sweet fragrance will spread all around the forest they grow in. They are a great flower to photograph because of their saturated colors and their tendency to grow in open areas in the forest that are easy to photograph. They tend to bloom here in the Madison Indiana area around the middle to late April and they weather the elements well.

So if you ever out in the woods and want to photograph a neat little wildflower, give these a guys a shot you might be happy with the results.

I have been spending a lot of time photographing wildflowers here in the Madison Indiana area and also the Smokey Mountains that I am just now getting around to posting some here for you to view.

I shot these Virginia Bluebells at Clifty Falls State Park early last week before I headed off on vacation, I really liked the blue coloring in these and they turned out to be pretty nice.

Thanks for taking a look and I should have a lot more images to follow !!

The wildflowers here in Southern Indiana are really starting to put on a show, now if I could ever get the wind to stop blowing long enough to where I could a few more shots I would be more than happy, but I will take what I can get.

I shot these little flowers the other night at Clifty Falls and I don’t think they turned out to bad for such a windy evening. The Dutchman’s Breeches are a funky little flower that resemble someones trouser’s, hence the name I guess, but when the wind blows they are a beast to shoot and I try not spend a whole lot of time trying to shoot one.

Hopefully I will be able to get a wider variety of wildflowers the next couple of weeks and share them with you. It is great time to be outdoors right now so even if I don’t get a bunch of keeper shots I will still be happy to be outside.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look !