A Day at Fort Harrison

Fort Harrison State Park in Indianapolis is a great place to visit and relax. Even though it is somewhat close to the urbanization of Indianapolis, it offers a relatively quiet reprieve from the bustle of the city streets. I visited there recently to try to capture some of the spring colors as they were emerging.

_MG_3879

The park has a centrally located “duck pond” with paved and primitive hiking trails in the vicinity.


_MG_3880

Many of the hiking trails have bridges and steps to help navigate wet areas and steep grades.


_MG_3883
_MG_3886

All the insects were busy pollinating.


_MG_3898

The cattails at the edge the pond were busy doing the thing that they do in the spring. Pollinating? Blooming? Shedding? Dying? I’m a photographer, not a botanist. I just like the way the light filters through the “fuzzies.”


_MG_3905

This flower has very delicate, thread-like petals. The shallow depth of field (f/5.6) in this photo makes the front of the bloom in focus and the back slightly blurry.


_MG_3908

This flower is known as “Butterweed” and this year it is growing all over Indiana. This specimen was growing in the shade at the edge of a wood.


_MG_3911

More Butterweed growing along side of a walking trail.


_MG_3948

I was on my way back to the car when I spotted these tender Sweet Gum leaves. I pointed the camera directly into the sun to get this shot. The sun is shining through the leaves showing the detail in the “veins.” I set my camera to the fastest shutter speed available (1/4000). I had to take several shots to get one that I was happy with because there was a stiff breeze and it was a challenge to catch the leaves when they were still.

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: