Mountain Laurel - Skylands

The Mountain Laurel are starting to bloom in Skylands (New Jersey Botanical Gardens).  I look forward to this flower every year!  The pink buds look like candy before they bloom and always tell me that summer is on its way!

Keep Makin' Art!
Carl

Mountain Laurel - Harriman State Park

The Mountain Laurel are blooming in Harriman and the Catskills. It is one of my favorite flowers. I think I like it because of its short blooming cycle and I find it along trails in the woods so I have to work a little to get this small white and pink flower that hangs in bunches making really interesting shapes and design problems. They are prettiest in the daylight sun, because they stand out from the dark woodland background, but that also makes them tough to shoot from a contrast perspective... I shoot them early in the morning when the light is mostly flat and coming in pretty low. I like to look for spots where the light is filtered, but peeking through to give me a range of tones in the white flowers, this gives some mass to the bunches.

What are your favorite flowers along the trail?

Keep Makin' Art

Carl