The beauty of Spring has arrived. The days are getting longer and warmer, and Mother Nature is showing off her latest Spring trappings. With all of this in mind, I made a trip to Collins Creek to find and photograph those signs of a blossoming Spring season.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I arrived and tried to avoid setting any mental expectations for myself. As I walked along the trail making my way toward the creek, I spotted a Dogwood tree full of fresh blossoms.
Unfortunately, there were a lot of trees and branches between me and the blossoms, so I continued along the trail to see if I could find a better vantage point. As I walked along, I realized the trail was descending below the blooms creating an angle I didn’t find pleasing. I turned around and went back up the trail and, while I found a better angle, I couldn’t find a clean view of the blossoms and decided to move on and find another subject to photograph.
I made my way back down the trail for the second time and arrived at the creek along with its waterfalls. I stood beside the creek taking in the Spring scenery. Turning around, I spotted another flowering Dogwood tree a little higher on an opposite hill overlooking the creek. I made my way up the hil on my side of the creekl and found a clear eye-level view of the blossoms. With my 100-400mm lens and 1.4x teleconverter, I framed up this scene with the blossoms lined up against a dark tree trunk.
Dogwood blooms against a textured tree trunk, Collins Creek, Arkansas, April 2025
I really like this image, but I noticed one little flaw as I was processing the file: the single blossom on the upper right is slightly out of focus. I wish I had noticed this when I photographed this scene so I could have fixed it, but I didn’t. Normally, I wouldn’t have ever shown this picture; in fact, I may have even deleted it. But, one of my goals this year is to not let perfect be the enemy of good, and remembering this goal saved what I consider a good photograph from going to the trash bin because of one imperfection that, in the grand scheme of things, is pretty insignificant.