Crowder Park modest in size, attractions

Crowder County Park in southern Wake County, N.C., encompasses 33 acres of land that includes a very modest pond, recreational fields for softball, volleyball and soccer, a paved trail around the pond and dirt trails in the wooded area, a rudimentary amphitheater within the woods, three playground areas and three picnic shelters.

The park's website says the park also has a bird garden, prairie garden, shade garden and butterfly garden. I walked past an area that was labeled rain garden as well. I'm not sure what each of these is supposed to show for visitors; each is quite modest, and you could easily miss it if you weren't specifically looking for it.

The photo leading off the post is among my favorites at the park. It's a reflection of a very small section of the pond along one side of a wooded observation deck. The vast majority of the pond is on the other side of the deck.

The website also says the park's address puts it in the community of Apex, which is the fourth place I visited on this day (the three others were churches) that claims to reside in Apex ... even though in each case I was several miles from what I consider to be closest border for the town limits of Apex. So there's some geography I apparently need to study up on.

As always, if you'd like to view a larger, sharper version of a photo, simply click on the image. This is particularly helpful for those of you who access the blog on a mobile device. To view a full gallery of images from my visit to Crowder Park, follow the link in this sentence.

Photo geek stuff: For the entire shoot, I used Canon 6D and Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD lens. I took three slightly different exposures (one as metered, one 2/3 stop over and one 2/3 stop under metered), which I blended into a single frame in post-processing using Photomatix high-dynamic range (HDR) software. Most of the shots were taken at 100 ISO or close to 100 ISO and f/8, although in extremely shady areas I needed to boost the ISO to much higher levels. I used the shutter as my variable for the differing exposures for each composition.

The park's offices (above) are just inside the main entrance, and not far from it is a feeding station (first below) and a bird bath basin (second below) that was empty ... except for these frog figurines. 

As one walks from the Cardinal shelter (above) and descends those stairs, he/she sees the playground shown below.  

The view (above) from the deck at the park's Upper Pavilion (there is a Lower Pavilion deeper into the park) looks out onto a wooded area. It's a good place to appreciate the sounds of the woods. Below is a look out onto the recreation fields, with a sand volleyball court in the immediate foreground.  

Above is a look at the pond from the observation deck. Below is the view of the pond and observation deck as seen from the opposite side of the pond. 

Above: A "reflective" composition featuring wood poles, their reflections and other reflections on the pond, all framed by the foliage in the foreground. 

Quite a few turtles make the pond and shore area their home. There is a raft in the center of the pond (above) for them. The first two photos below are closeups of some turtles that swam near and underneath the observation deck. 

Above: A swing -- and its shadow -- at the end of the pond opposite the deck. 

On a dirt trail en route to the amphitheater (below), I came across the unusual rocks shown above. 

Above: A couple walking the paved trail around the pond.