Spring in the Cemetery

This local cemetery was a patchwork of low growing flowers recently and I had to basically lay on the ground to get this shot. There were a ton of obnoxious power lines in the shot that I felt had to go,and removing them is one tedious exercise but I am glad I made the effort.

Church in Spring

A pair of lovely pink trees provides the perfect complement for this beautiful old rural church. For some reason I thought I could improve on this shot by going back in the rain. Problem was it was pouring,blowing 20 mph winds and even with a huge golf umbrella,it was impossible to keep the lens dry.I had the umbrella bungeed to my tripod with a steel post attached to it,and I turned away for a moment only to see my umbrella take flight.Thank goodness my tripod and camera stayed upright. I was mumbling to myself how ridiculous this was to attempt,and it was an experience I won’t soon forget.

By The Lantern Light

These three lamp posts made a nice framing element for the gorgeous spring tree.Unfortunately the lights were not working so I had to light everything with flash to get some light on the subject. This tree had a nice shape and wonderful color and the japanese maples on the edges added a touch of warmth as well.

Longwood Gardens 5

I love tulips and Longwood has one of the best displays each year. The problem is trying to get a shot with no one in it,so I always take my tripod and shoot several duplicate shots with each section devoid of people. For example I watched the area with the trees and made sure I had a shot clear of any people,then I watched the center and then the left side with the bushes. Even using this technique,it still takes some waiting,but it is worth the effort. There were at least twenty people here with me in this area,and the worst was one guy who parked his scooter right in the middle while he walked as slow as a snail through the garden. He finally left and I could finish my shot.

Chinese Wisteria

I missed shooting this lovely Chinese Wisteria last year and thankfully I noticed it this year just in time to capture it. I always referred to this as grape hyacinth for some reason, but looking it up on google proved that was way off. Funny thing is we have grape hyacinth at our house and I knew it was called that,so go figure. The quaint little outbuilding was the perfect place to grow this gorgeous plant and everything works together.

Delivering Smiles

I happened past this simple yet elegant old bicycle painted in the most pleasant spring tones and adorned with a bouquet of  spring flowers in both the front and back. Sometimes the simplest things are among the most beautiful and my hats off to the designer of this cool display. A dogwood in the distance adds just a touch of color to accent this lovely shot.

A Place to Relax

 

I have always thought this gazebo was very nice and when I saw the spring trees in bloom around it, I knew I had to ask permission to try and capture it. This was shot with a long lens between 300 and 400mm so I could place the colorful trees against the dark woods behind them instead of the bland sky which would have lost some of their color.A longer lens helps compress the distance to help get a great shot. Thankfully the owners were more than willing to let me try to capture this beauty.