On Saturday I went back out to the Kennebunk Plains to see how the Northern Blazing Star is doing. When I was there two weeks ago there were a few early plants in bloom, and the promise of a very good year for the endangered plant.

And it is a good year by all appearances. The stands are healthy, blossoms are plentiful. I have no way of judging whether the plants are spreading, but the stands that are there seem denser this year, and I am going to take that as a good sign. I suspect this sand plains habitat was once more extensive in New England and Maine, when wildfire was not as controlled, and that the endangered status is as much for the habitat itself as for the Blazing Star that grows there.

The first shot here is an extreme telephoto macro, using the full zoom on the Canon SX40HS plus the 2x digital tel-converter function for the equivalent field of view of a 1680mm lens on a full frame DSLR. The depth of field, however, is that of a 150mm lens. It produces an interesting macro effect. f5.8 @ 1/500th @ ISO 125. Program with iContrast and –1/3EV exposure compensation. 

2) about 170mm equivalent field of view. f4.5 @ 1/800th @ ISO 100. 3) 840mm equivalent. f5.8 @ 1/1000th @ ISO 200. 4) 24mm equivalent, f4 @ 1/1250th @ ISO 100. Canon SX40HS. Program with iContrast and –1/3EV exposure compensation. 

Processed in Lightroom for intensity, clarity, and sharpness.