Spring Meadow, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Poppy Lanterns, Merced River Canyon

Kaleidoscope Poppy, Sierra Foothills, California

Wildflowers and Aspen, North Rim, Grand Canyon

Paintbrush, Mill Creek, Lundy Canyon

Poppies, Hite Cove Trail, Merced River Canyon

Catching Light, California Poppy, Sierra Foothills

Orchids, Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, Hawaii

Dogwood Above the Merced River, Yosemite

Foothill Gold, Mokelumne River, California

Dogwood Branch, Pohono Bridge, Yosemite

Sparkling Poppies, Merced River Canyon

Poppy Hillside, California Gold Country

Champagne Glass Poppies, Merced River Canyon, California

A hat’s throw away: The front flower was no more than two inches from my lens. I stopped down to f20 (smaller than I like to go) and focused on the back of the front flower. Even a 17mm and f20 you can see that the Rockies are slightly soft–but because the foreground flowers are so sharp, the background softness is really not a problem.

Wildflowers and North Peak, Twenty Lakes Basin

Balsam Root and Lupine, Columbia River Gorge, Oregon

Field of Gold, Death Valley

Dogwood and Rapids, Merced River, Yosemite

Echoes of Spring, California Poppies, Sierra Foothills

Desert Gold and Telescope Peak, Death Valley

Poppy and Surf, Point Reyes National Seashore

Forest Wildflowers, North Rim, Grand Canyon

Intimate Poppy, Point Reyes National Seashore