Crested Butte, Colorado has the most wonderful columbines.  The annual Wildflower Festival in Crested Butte is one of the best ways to find, view, and photograph them.  I attended four photography workshops in three days, and didn’t miss an opportunity to photograph columbines.  This year, they were at higher elevations – it’s been dry and windy in town, but once you got into the high country, columbines were on both sides of the road, up the slopes, and in your face at every turn.  I took care to select fresh flowers, and tried to find blossoms with a dark background, the better to accentuate the bright colors of the flowers.  There was a little wind, and columbines, being on tall stalks, did their best to bob in the breeze, making photography a bit of a challenge.  Nevertheless, I found a few quiet places, and clicked away.  I selected four photographs to feature.  The photo with three columbines is special.  I used a technique called “focus-stacking” in which I blended thee photos of the same flowers to make a photo sharp from front to back.