Penning Photography Daily

On a gray and overcast day, with snow and rain in the forecast, I went in search of some flowers.

The Washington Park Botanical Garden has an arboretum which lets in beautiful light and houses a collection of flowers and plants not native to this climate. I always enjoy a walk through the dome covered paths, usually seeing something new each time I visit.

This clump of pink flowers was right by one of the entrances. I had taken the one lens which stays in my bag at all times, the Vivitar 28mm f2 Close Focus lens, and put it on my Pentax K20D. That lens is special. Not only does it capture beauty, it was a gift from a friend who recently died. His gift to me keeps on giving through my use.

I had the aperture wide open at f2, to isolate the slim plane of focus, and render the out of focus areas a dreamy blur. It’s a way of taking pictures of flowers that pleases my eye.

I missed out on the orchid flower show last weekend. I had a very busy schedule, and decided to rest when I could have hoofed it over to the botanical garden instead. That’s one of the reasons I decided to swing by the arboretum today, hoping to take in some of the orchids. Alas, there were but a few of the regular orchid plants on display, all the show plants were gone. I’ll get there next year, I hope, but will return throughout the year to see what the garden has to offer as the collection evolves.

The rain has started, and will likely turn to snow overnight.

With my photographs, I’ll always be able to revisit the colors of the tropics.

All I had to do was make a short visit and have my camera with me.