Trillium Time

I was out with my family walking through the Rouge Valley which is right by where I live in Scarborough. There were millions of these little flies that kept flying in your ears nose mouth and any other orifice they could find entry into. Once we got used to these little annoyances we stumbled upon one of my favourite photographic subjects which happens to be Ontario's official flower the Trillium. The clusters that we were looking at were all white however they do come in purple and pink I had the good look a few years ago of finding a purple specimen.

When photographing natural fauna such as the Trillium it must be kept in mind that these particular flowers are protected as are all other zoological species in the park, it is an offense to pick them. Trillium's take about thirteen years to flower and if disturbed may not flower the next year or for that matter ever again. The manner in which Trillium's are spread is very interesting their main distributor is the ant. Ants are extremely attracted to little sugar sacks that are attached to the seeds they haul the seeds into their ant hills along with their sugar sacks and leave the seeds thus the seed is planted and ready to start it's cycle of life, which lasts in total an average of twenty three years.

When photographing Trillium's there is always a tendency to burn out the white petals due to the high reflecting quality of their petals. Set your aperture on a fairly wide open setting and use a tripod along with a remote trigger if you have one to avoid shake, you can also try using a polarizing filter. Get as close as possible to the flower to capture it's subtleties.

You should find Trillium's in full bloom from the beginning of May until the end of May. Remember make every effort not to disturb the area around the flower. Have fun!

Till Next Time...