Blue Ridge Mountains

My First White Trilliums - Shenandoah National Park /  by Todd Henson

Blushing White Trillium

Trilliums are a very distinctive flower I’ve often seen in photos online but until now hadn’t seen in person. In late April my father and I happened to drive over Skyline Drive through a part of Shenandoah National Park while heading back home from other activities. Just after driving away from a pull-off we both noticed flashes of white in the woods and when looking closer realized it was a large number of trilliums along the forest floor. We turned around and headed back to the pull-off and I grabbed my camera and headed into the woods across the road.

Trillium all over the forest floor

There are times when I almost don’t know what to do, when I feel overloaded by what I see, taking me back to my youth when we’d visit certain large stores in Germany and find a Lego section that just stretched on and on and on. What do I focus on? There’s so much to see, I’ll never see it all. That’s how I felt around all these white trillium flowers in full bloom.

White trillium on leaf litter

The trillium and the tree

But I knew I didn’t have all day to spend here so I calmed myself and slowly began looking for those standout flowers or arrangements of flowers and carefully approached each one. As with many spring wildflowers, trilliums only bloom for a short period of time and so this was likely the only opportunity I’d get with them this year. I hadn’t planned on flower photography this day so I didn’t have my macro lens with me, carrying a single walkabout lens, a 16-80mm f/2.8-4 (thanks Alex). Thankfully it performed admirably and allowed me to create both closeups and wider views.

Unopened white trillium

Young white trillium

The white trillium, more formally known as Trillium grandiflorum, is native to eastern North America and seems most common in mountain forests, which is exactly where we found it. The flowers ranged a bit in size, though overall it’s a very large flower compared to most spring wildflowers I see. It has a distinctive shape with three white petals, three green bracts that resemble leaves, and yellow anthers at the center. The white of the petals can apparently grow pinker as they age, and I found some examples of this. There is also a specific variety of Trillium grandiflorum that is very distinctly pink and can be found in the Blue Ridge Mountains, but I didn’t see any of these on this trip.

White trillium in pink

My timing photographing these was very good as just as I walked back to the car it began raining and it wasn’t long before it was a heavy downpour with large gusts of wind. A little drizzle might have been nice to place some water droplets on the flowers but a heavy downpour with strong winds just doesn’t work well with flowers. I did photograph from the car while we drove through the storms, though, so perhaps I’ll share some of those photos in a future post.

Trillium grove

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse of white trilliums. We’ve done a little research and have learned of other locations we might find these in future seasons. I very much want more opportunities to explore photographing this fabulous flower.

White trillium family portrait

Have you ever seen trilliums? Let me know in the comments below.

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One Blue Ridge Morning /  by Todd Henson

One Blue Ridge Morning: A sunrise scene from atop the Blue Ridge Mountains in Shenandoah National Park

I’m not an early riser, so I always find it challenging driving out to Shenandoah National Park in time for sunrise. And you never know exactly what the weather will be like when you arrive. You may drive right into a dense cloud bank, unable to see anything beyond a few feet in front you. Or, you may arrive to the scene you see above, with a beautiful gradation of colors in the sky, the sun not yet above the horizon, and that dense cloud bank in the valley below.

Motivation is a battle for some of us. It’s so much easier, and at the time feels so much better, curling up in that warm bed for a couple extra hours. But on those days when we manage to overcome inertia and get out early enough, especially on those days we encounter scenes like that above, it makes all that effort worth while. And it’s moments like this that drive us to make every effort to do it again, to rise early, to get out there and search out the next beautiful scene.

Alas, it’s still not all that often I manage this. But it does give me something to strive for.

Waiting for Spring /  by Todd Henson

Waiting for Spring, April 2018

I write these words in December. It’s winter, there’s a cold breeze blowing outside. We’ve seen the first snowfall of the season, with who knows how many more to come. I do enjoy this time of year. The fresh feeling of the cold air. The pure, glistening white of snow and ice. The interesting sensation of feeling warm and relaxed under the layers of clothing, while the cold wind leaves a tingling sensation on the cheeks.

But I also look forward (or back) to spring, when the air begins to warm, the sun stays up longer, and plant life prepares to spring back to life. I look to mid-April, along Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. The trees atop the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia are still devoid of leaves, though that will change before long. The sun backlights a couple of trees in a field, lights up a few clouds in the sky, and creates a soft glow with the haze around the mountains in the distance. I imagine warmth, but that is just my imagination; it’s still fairly cool outside, especially atop the mountains.

I do enjoy the winter. But I’m also waiting for spring.

Waiting for Spring is available for purchase as wall art or on a variety of products in my Pixels online store.

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