I first saw a fringed blue gentian back in 2010, over a decade ago; so you can imagine how pleased I was to see a field with dozens of plants scattered about. According to the guide this is because conservationists have burned the prairie, making room for native species that can't otherwise compete with invasive aliens.

20sep2022:11:53; Sony ILCE-7C, sony 90mm macro: f/11.0, ev 0, 1/100s, ISO 800, WB: auto; cropped, color adjusted

Unfortunately my phone rendered it a bright, unrealistic blue and it only has blue-orange axis colour adjustment, and I needed green magenta. So I went back a couple of days later with the Sony and took these shots, absolutely thrilled to discover the flowers were still there.

20sep2022:11:52; Sony ILCE-7C, sony 90mm macro: f/5.0, ev 0, 1/100s, ISO 125, WB: auto; cropped, color adjusted

I still had to do colour adjustments, cuz I'm a doofus and haven't learned how to set custom white balance on the Sony, but they needed a lot less—the auto white balance was still too blue, the ‘shade’ too red.

20sep2022:11:56; Sony ILCE-7C, sony 90mm macro: f/8.0, ev 0, 1/100s, ISO 500, WB:shade; cropped, color adjusted

I had a lot to do that day, so I couldn't stay long, or I likely would've experimented with the lensbaby as well. Matched to my memory, not exactly the most reliable metric; but I think reasonably accurate, and I was happy for the chance.

Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.