Cornell Botanical Gardens on 6.6.12

A must see is the huge flower of the Gigantic Magnolia flower that is in bloom on a tree in the Botanical Garden, right behind the Lewis Building.  Lewis himself obtained a seed for this tree in 1963 from its native habitat in the South.  The tree has survived here due to the micro climate of a protected area between the Lewis building and the Rhododendron Knoll.

In the Young garden, there are many different iris in bloom.  One can read about the cultural use of iris in the book provided in the garden. That is a nice touch for a visit.

Giant Magnolia

peony

iris

iris

iris

iris

poppies

Poppies

poppies

In the herb garden, there are three types of poppies in bloom.  Although it was mid day when I took these pictures and the wind was starting to ruffle the flowers, I was able to obtain some decent images.

Poppies to Pops!

Tonight are the fireworks on Owasco Lake, which are always very colorful and entertaining.  This year, I will try some pictures, using the sports setting on the Canon Rebel.

While en route, I stopped at the Cornell Plantations and took a few shots of the lovely Poppy. Since the flower that was in bloom was not near the path, I had to reach over the wooden fence to capture a few shots.  Perhaps another will be in bloom tomorrow that is closer to the path.

Mr. Toad greeted me as I got out of the car and was very patient for a few shots.

Some sporty folks were riding a jet ski on the lake.  Looked like great fun.

Then there are some Day Lilies in bloom, with heads erect and proud to be celebrating the 4th of July!

Enjoy the pix.

June 1 Garden Flowers

After weeks of rain and a soggy backyard, the perennials are coming into bloom. Early!  Today, I took pictures of the pink and white peonies, the orange poppies, giant allium, and the blue and purple iris.  The pond is encircled by yellow iris that have spread by their own methods of distribution from the original plant.  On the surface of the pond are many first leaves of the lotus flowers, which look very similar to water lily leaves, but are too numerous to be the latter.

Hope you enjoy these images.

Flower Workshop in NYC with Barbara Bordnick

I just returned from a very educational workshop under the direction of floral photographer, Barbara Bordnick. We first went to the flower market in lower Manhattan and chose flowers to photograph. Then we learned a great deal about sophisticated lighting with strobes, much of which I do not think I will be able to duplicate.  Barbara and her assistants gave instructions on lighting, floral arrangements, and processing of the images for printing.  Once again, it is apparent the power of Photoshop!

The flowers photographed included tulips, peonies, poppies, and phalaenopsis orchids.

Here are a selection of the images I photographed this weekend.  Please give any comments and suggestions.