[This is my 4th installment in a 6-part series for a photo trekking class I took with Barbara Southworth through the Smithsonian Associates Residence Program.]

Turtle in swamp water

On the 18th, my photo trekking class went to Carderock in Great Falls National Park, Maryland. The previous weekend, we visited Great Falls in the early morning. For the trek on the 18th, we went hiking in the late afternoon and evening to see how things would look with sunset lighting.

While I got some great photos this trip, the lighting was pretty disappointing. The lighting was harsh in the afternoon. I would have thought the following photo would have turned out very nicely. I love the turtles climbing onto the log with the ducks. However, it seems the sun was just too harsh.
 

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The light wasn’t much better later on either. We didn’t get a sunset because a blanket of clouds rolled in and blocked out the sun. However, not all was lost. Things worked out a bit better in the shade and with some selectivity, I could get nice shots. I really like the following turtle photo and the photo of the turtle at the top of the page.
 

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I wasn’t inspired to take any landscape photos this trip. So, I put away my wide-angle lens and pulled out my Nikon 70-300 VR telephoto lens. I used the telephoto to zoom in on details. I really like how the light falls on the leaves and flowers in the following:
 

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There were a lot of purple phlox in bloom:
 

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I’m not a flower expert, so I don’t know what this is, but I love the yellow set against the dark green:
 

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It was a beautiful hike. There were flowers in bloom everywhere I looked.

Purple phlox and yellow wildflowers

The most exciting moment of the hike, for me, was this dragonfly that I photographed at the end of the trail.

Adolescent Dragonfly

It was a very challenging shot to take. To get the shot, I used my Nikon 70-300 VR lens at 300mm on a tripod. I stood as close to the dragonfly as I could get. (The lens has a minimum focus distance of 5 feet.) Then, to get the entire dragonfly in focus, I stopped down the lens to f/16. For metering, I selected spot metering.