Flowers from the White Trail, Moss Rock Preserve

For my third visit to Moss Rock Preserve in Hoover, Alabama, I set out on an out-and-back along the White Trail from the trailhead across from The Preserve. With Darby along for the hike, we planned to get in a mild three-to-four mile hike. Our turnaround point was to be the Frog Pound, which as it turned out was little more than a muddy bog due to seasonably dry conditions. After passing Boulder Field, our next major landmark was Tunnel Falls, more aptly found to be Tunnel Trickle on this occasion. But despite, the arid conditions, there were a good number of flowers about.

These are a couple that I photographed using the "Macro" (1:2 Reproduction) functionality of the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L lens I have recently acquired. These were taken handheld, made possible only because of the Image Stabilization on the lens; even still I would have been better off with a tripod or monopod, because with macro it's easy to miss that critical focus point with the slightest movement of man or plant. And had I not missed focus on several other photos, I would be able to offer more photographs exhibiting the colorful, though not exotic, flowers hikers can look forward to.