The Shooting Star is one of the early blooming wildflowers in the high elevations of the Rocky Mountains of Idaho. It reaches its peak in the last weeks of June each year. This year is no different.
The Shooting Star is part of the primrose family. This species is named Primula jeffreyi. The flower’s common name is Sierra Shooting Star, tall mountain shooting star, or Jeffrey’s Shooting Star. It is named after botanist John Jeffrey. Its native environment is from California north up through Alaska and east to Montana.
More information on this species is located [here].
The Goat Creek basin is part of the Sawtooth National Wilderness and Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA). It is part of an almost daily out and back 6 mile walk/hike/ski/snowshoe from our home to the junction of the Alpine Way Trail. The Shooting Star in bloom tells me it is June.
Previous Posts
I and my family are fortunate to have this region serve as our home. Some previous Posts on Goat Creek you might find of interest:
A Walk Through The Meadow is located [here].
A Walk in The Backyard is located [here].
What’s on Your Walk is located [here].
Skinning Up in Skis to Take in America’s Alps is located [here].
Hit By A Bus Driven By a Gorilla is located [here].
The Holiday Season is Upon Us How Do You Celebrate? is located [here].
Christmas At the Cabin is located [here].
FULL DISCLOSURE
I lost my Hiking Stick on this shoot. Linda (my loving, caring and giving wife of 42+ years [say it with me everyone]) found it the next morning on her regularly scheduled hike with the Border Collies.
There are a good deal of variables involved in a simple shoot of this kind on this day. While it is my backyard, it is still a 6 mile hike at 6,540 – 8,140 feet elevation in 87 degree heat with camera gear on the back. The Border Collies are with me. However, they are materially more interested in “ground guys” and bathing in Goat Creek at the three stream crossings. On the other hand, once I see Shooting Star’s in the right light, all else is secondary – including a Hiking Stick thrown to the ground.
*** Jeff’s Thoughts and Other Worthless Trivia ***
An enjoyable aspect of capturing these images is they were conducted using equipment from PHASEONE. In this case the PHASEONE IQ4 150 Digital Back and XF Camera Body. The capabilities of the PHASEONE line of gear are unmatched for this type of photography. I captured the images in this Post laying down on my chest and shooting hand held. The images captured in virtually all the other Posts were with the IQ Digital Back and XF Camera Body or Cambo Technical Camera Body.
My technical consultants and support team are Steve Hendrix and Brad Kaye from Capture Integration (CI) of Atlanta, GA, USA. I have worked with them since 2011. There are no better. More information about CI is located [here].
While I am a PHASEONE Photographer, I am also a NPS Photographer for Nikon. I am blessed to have both these companies and their systems as part of my kit.
I do not take any financial remuneration of any kind from Capture Integration, PHASEONE, or Nikon for my opinions or recommendations.
