Cherry Blossom Festival

Washington DC is one of my favorite two cities (Chicago is the other one...followed by NY and San Francisco) and it is just beautiful during the springtime. We flew up to DC on Monday afternoon and while Jim was working in Fairfax on Tuesday, I jumped on the Metro and walked around the tidal basin. Good thing as it was the only pretty day all week. Brrrrrrrrr! The cherry trees around the Tidal Basin were a gift from Japan (3020 trees) in 1912. The first shipment of trees had to be destroyed as they were infested with bugs. Today, there are 3750 trees in the area including twelve varieties. The two most common are the Yoshino and Kwanzan varieties. Next year, March 27 will be one hundred years since Japan gave this gift. It will be interesting to see if a special celebration will occur. Most of the trees appeared more white than pink to me this year. There were some near the Jefferson Memorial that were very pink, but most were white. I have seen them appear more pink so it would be interesting to learn if something determines how pink the blossoms appear. There is construction around the Jefferson Memorial, as it is sinking. The timber pilings apparently did not go far enough down when the memorial was constructed. Next time I will take my longer lens. I had my other three L series lens with me and it is so much to carry all day! I used a wide angle, close up and 28-70mm, but regretted not having the 70-200mm. I used my monopod but will take a tripod next time.

The mascot is a beaver as at one time, the Park Service had problems with beaver coming up out of the basin and chopping down cherry trees. Wonder if they lied about it? Anyway, I purchased a little beaver at the Jefferson Memorial and used him in a few photos so when I do my book for my grandchildren, Places Grandma has Visited, he will be included.

Notice how the places where limbs have been removed still bloom. There are also metal tags nailed on the trees with numbers on them.

Also, this year, I noticed that visitors had tied red and white things to the tree, I assume as a tribute to Japan. They might be a memorial to the Japanese people after the earthquake and tsunami or this might be something that is done every year and I had not noticed them before. Notice how intricate this particular one was.

Below is my mascot and the signs asking visitors not to pick the blossoms. I did visit the basin again on Friday before leaving town and I saw a couple of ladies doing a flower arrangement with cherry blossoms. I snapped their photo and then here came a park ranger, asking about the blossoms and what they were doing. They told him that they were from the arboretum and the blossoms were ones they had brought with them for the arrangements. I left with them discussing it, but I don't think he liked them being there and encouraging the cutting of cherry blossoms.

Here are some of the pinker flowers near the Jefferson Memorial. The construction is occurring directly under the area in the photo above, but I cropped it out in this photo. You can barely see the top edge of the construction barrier.

I had heard that the peak would be Tuesday through Friday (I visited on both of those days) but then later read that 4/4 was the peak day. When I left, there was not yet blossoms on the ground. The last time I was there, a storm and high winds made the ground look like we had had a cherry blossom snow!

Here is a "Hello Kitty" type tribute I saw in the tree. This truly was a wonderful gift from Japan!

Tulips and Iris

When the flower is down close to the ground, what is the best way to photograph it? There are a variety of ways. Below is a shot that is taken up close looking directly down into the flower.

Here are the iris that were blooming near the chapel. Since they were down near the water, it was more of a challenge to get to them. I tried to get down at their level. I always like to include the buds and even the spent blooms as they have an interesting shape.

Below, I wanted to show the huge hyacinths that were blooming. They were so big that many of them were falling over.

Here is a group of tulips shot from directly above.

Sometimes you just have to get bite the bullet and get down on your knees (I know, it is a pain, especially with two cameras around your neck as well as a camera bag!). Set some of your stuff on the ground. Then there is the issue of getting up! This is one place that the weight loss and exercise has really come in handy!

Joyce and I would take turns visiting the ladies room so one could watch the equipment as that is another place it is not fun to have a lot of equipment hanging around your neck! LOL! I know, tmi! Trials and tribulations of a photographer that you might not have thought of before!

I mentioned that white flowers are difficult and you can see below that detail is lost on the white centers of the flowers, but at least the fringed edges still show up.

It is not the walled tulip garden at Biltmore, but it will satisfy my tulip fix for this year!

Horticultural Center at Callaway

In addition to pollen being everywhere, there is also a lot of "springtime snow"....like these blossoms off the trees.

Here are some shots from around the Horticultural Center.

Above, you can se the swing with the wisteria.

The tulips in the flower beds were just beautiful. I will share some closeups of them in my next post.

Time of Pollen!

Joyce and I each have red SUVs and they both look yellow right now! Maybe the rain today will wash it off. A pollen count of 90 is considered high and it was way over 2000 on this day. Some days it gets up over 4000. Last year it was just terrible at the Masters and I had to go get something to clean out my sinuses and carry drops for my eyes. Makes my throat hurt just thinking about it! Sometimes it looks like we are having a sandstorm outside, but it is pollen in the air! Guess you have to pay for all these beautiful blooms somehow!

Pollen does affect your photos as it gets on the plants and in the ponds and on your equipment. If you zoom in on these shots, I am sure you will see the pollen, especially on the leaves. You might want to take a blower for your camera equipment or a microfiber towel for your glasses.

It also gets on your.....

..........shoes! LOL! Can you believe I was foolish enough to polish these shoes before putting them on? Polish your shoes AFTER you tromp through the woods, not before!

See what trials and tribulations we suffer to bring you beautiful flower shots? LOL!

Azalea Bowl

The azaleas in the azalea bowl were not at their peak but they were still pretty. Of course, it is a beautiful scene even without the azaleas blooming! In about a week, from when these were taken, this area will be awash with color, much as the azaleas you can see on the Masters coverage on TV.

There is a circle around the pond filled with azaleas. The first photos above were taken from the bridge that you can see in this photo. Pine trees and azaleas....you don't get much more southern than that!

Easter Topiaries

We were fortunate in that we were at the horticultural center while they were placing some topiaries that they had made. One year at Christmas time I showed you a train topiary, but here are their Easter ones.

Look at these darling chicks! I included a shot with the background (and people out by the flower beds) so you could get an idea of the scale of these.

Above, the working is placing an "egg" next to this bunny. You can see on the other bunny that the eggs are planted with something that will bloom in a beautiful pink. I think it would be such fun to work at a place like this.

I included a closeup of this bunny above, but I wanted to show you the scene. Perhaps you can see that he does have "whiskers". The plant for his chin and tummy are different to provide a contrast. This is the area below where they have the poinsettia tree in the winter.

Wisteria

The woods are full of wisteria blooming and we were tempted to stop and take photos along the road but I said, I am sure there will be some at Callaway. This swing arbor with wisteria was the only one we saw and we sat here for a few moments and enjoyed the sweet smells. I look forward to seeing the huge old wisteria at Augusta. It was one of the original vines brought over from China.

Here I am showing you different views of the vine. Above, you have your contrast in background as well as diagonal lines that are repeated by the vine and the flower.

Below, is a shot from below, looking up at the sky and the umbrella of blooms above the swing.

You know I love shadows, and I thought the shot above had good shadows. Also, sometimes the bloom is not the star. The actual vine can be quite interesting. I also like this little "underdog" shoot coming out all alone. It is not big and showy like the others but it has it's own special view!

They look like grapes, dripping with fruit don't they? Their beauty is short lived but it is so breath taking when it is here!

Chapel at Callaway Gardens

I like to shoot the chapel at Callaway from across the way where there are a couple of benches as from there you get the reflection in the water. There was a little cool breeze on this day, which kept the water from being perfectly smooth, but it is still a pretty reflection. One thing you have to deal with from there are all the people that come and stand and stand and stand in front of the chapel, admiring the view (which of course, is quite understandable). Joyce and I joke that we sometimes put people in the scenes to show scale. Sometimes there are other things you want in front of a subject just to add interest to a photo. Here are a couple of examples. An iris was blooming right along the water. I am sure there is a name for these iris that grow along the water as there were a lot of them and I have seen them at Vines Gardens also. I noticed a little white flower right next to them that I thought was just a wild strawberry or something, but later when we were in the Discovery Center, we admired a series of very realistic sculptures of Georgia wildflowers and that white flower was one of them. They were called oconee bells. Of course, I did not get a photo of them as I was concentrating on the iris. Guess this was a case where I should have shot first and asked later! I also did a shot with this curved tree became the first layer of the photo. I think it was having a Vanna White moment, it's branches like her arms showcasing the chapel. Take your time and look for things like this around you. Don't forget to look back from whence you came as the scenery will be different!

Inside the chapel it is quite small. I was meeting with a lady on Friday whose wedding I am shooting at Christ Church at St. Simons Island (my other favorite little church building) and she was telling me about someone she knew that was married here and there were people everywhere! I spent most of my time outside whereas Joyce stayed in here for a while so I am sure she got some great shots of the windows.

I have often taken photos of the lake with the first arch framing the view, but I think this is the first time I have stepped all the way back and included the second arch. Repetition is a good thing in photography. Speaking of repetition, there was a log on top of the water where several turtles were sunning themselves in a row and Joyce had her 70-200 mm lens (and has an extender) so she got shots of them. I had opted for my wide angles lens as my third lens so really could not get much of the turtles with the equipment I had along. That is one thing nice about shooting with someone else. You have different ideas and different tools.

Same chapel in a different time of year and season compared to when I usually shoot it.....same results.....beautiful spot on this earth!