Feb 20, 2011

Botanical Greenhouse Photography

Last Friday morning I took a trip to the local botanical greenhouse at Wellesley College. It is only a 20 to 25 minutes drive from my house and I only discovered it recently. It helps me to stay focused on my flower photography during the cold New England winter months that otherwise would not be very productive. The first time I visited one of the caretakers showed me these beautiful passion flowers in bloom. I snapped a few photos and instantly decided that this would be a regular destination for me. Last Friday I went back and shared the greenhouse with four painters and a class of high school art students that also were there to pursue the art of painting.
It was very quiet and I felt a little bad making all that noise with my tripod and firing away with my camera. However, when I first entered, there were white lilies in full bloom. I was immediately drawn to them because of their pure beautiful white shades lit by the morning light. Once I captured the images I had envisioned, I moved on with my journey. I checked out the cactus and desert section of the greenhouse but nothing was blooming yet. When I arrived in the tropical section my camera fogged up and I just let it sit on its tripod for a few minutes. I cleaned off the lens and then payed closer attention to pink orchids in full bloom. Luckily I was prepared and brought a piece of black cardboard that I positioned behind the orchids. That way I was able to eliminate any disturbing distractions in the background and added some elegance to the photograph. In the next area I found a yellow flower with a deep throat that I focused straight into. The edges burned out nicely and lead all attention to the floral inside. After a couple of hours I finished my photo excursion happy to know that I captured a few floral beauties that morning.

2 comments:

  1. Juergen, these are just beautiful. I went out this morning in search of eagles but no luck so I was thinking about maybe shooting some flowers indoors this afternoon. I love the center one. It reminds me of a waterfall. That yellow flower at bottom right is amazing too. Very well done. I really enjoy your flower photography.

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  2. Thanks Roni ... glad you like the floral photos! I was quite happy to have that many blooming and be able to capture them in an attractive way. I find greenhouses a great alternative to shooting outside in the winter .. just takes alittle bit of planning because of the tight space and distracting backgrounds you have to deal with.

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