Greenhouse Garden Photography

Last week I went back 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 is a hidden gem and it helps me to stay focused on my flower photography during the frigid New England winter months that otherwise would not be very productive. This time I shared the greenhouse with a garden club on a tour.

I first encountered blooming lilies that I captured in macro mode. I then moved on to the next area where ivory yellow tulip like flowers were in full bloom. The scent in this area was amazing and a delight for all of us. Here I also found a single Camellia flower blooming. I isolated the floral from the branches and focused around its center. I choose to underexpose this image slightly to bring out its beautiful colors. The soft focus gives it a dreamlike feeling.

My next stop was the tropical area where a huge screw pine in the middle of the room dominates. It immediately catches your eye when you walk in and I hadn't been able to come away with a decent image until this very last visit. That day I used my macro lens and focused on the leaf edges with their red sharp teeth. In "How am I Different" I located one tooth that stood out from the others in color and composed around it. In my second photograph of the screw pine I composed an abstract nature photograph around the lines of leaves.

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