Thank you Sofia for this wonderful challenge. You would think that as much as I enjoy floral photography, this would be an easy challenge for me. Well, when you have a lot of choices, it’s hard to pick what you think is the best. So, I narrowed it down by floral venues and seasons in my area.

Looking back at these images, I realize that I enjoy getting very close with my macro lens. In fact, most of my pictures are close ups! I don’t do much editing. I start in Lightroom, and if necessary bring the pictures into Topaz for sharpening. Typically I don’t have to do anything with color adjustments. The flowers do that for me. I might put a slight black vignette in to accent the flower.

Let’s start with April. That is tulip month. Each year wonderful volunteers at Ananda Village, Nevada City, plant a tulip garden that is terraced and open for the month of April. It became so popular and crowded that they started selling tickets for certain start times. During the last 2 years, we chose to photograph a small tulip patch at our local Jensen Botanical Gardens. If we go early enough, we are the only photographers there.

Ananda Village

Getting up close at Jensen Botanical Gardens this year.

Horton’s Iris Farm in Loomis is a commercial venture, but they don’t mind us photographing their beautiful blossoms. I’ve never seen such a variety of colors.

We are truly missing Daffodil Hill which closed in March of 2019, the day after our last visit. It was so crowded and people were not sticking to the paths, trampling the flowers. We arrived when they opened. By the time we left, traffic was backed up to get in. This was a family run, free event. It’s sad that visitors abused it. I think they needed to do what Ananda Village did.

Our community suffered another loss last year with the draining of the pond in William Land Park. It was drained because of the bird flu and its proximity to the zoo where many birds are housed. Here’s a lotus in color (with a visitor) and one I processed in black and white. I edited the black and white first in color and brought it into NIK Silver Efex.

I cannot forget my sunflowers. Each June I look forward to going out the the fields, ignoring the bees, (I’m allergic to them.) to soak up happiness.

I’ll end this post with my favorite–roses. These are from the McKinley Rose Garden in Sacramento.

I had a lot of fun choosing these flowers and I hope you enjoyed them. When you respond to this challenge please remember to link to Sofia’s original post and use the Lens-Artists tag.

Last week we saw and enjoyed delicate images of all sorts in response to Ann-Christine’s challenge. They were all beautiful and some very clever. Next week, look for John’s challenge.

50 thoughts on “Lens-Artists Challenge #301: Floral”

  1. Glorious flowers Anne and I love how you captured different angles from where the light touches them 🌺

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  2. Beautiful work! Macros of flowers always showcase their beauty so much more – I think, anyway! – than a field of flowers ever could. Like snowflakes – each is unique.

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  5. Such a pretty collection, Anne. Always love your macros. And this time the beauty images from Jenson Botanical Gardens. Tulips exemplify spring to me and I love all the colors. And it is a shame about Daffodil Hill. Hopefully the flowers will come back in a few years without people. Very nice.

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    1. Thanks Donna! I’m not sure the family is still planting daffodils on the hill. If they charged, that would have thinned out the crowd. Also if they had sold tickets for a certain time entry, that would have also cut down on attendance. But at least I can say, “I remember when!”

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  12. Your post is exceptional, I’m so glad you had the added challenge of narrowing down your selection, it’s a nice problem to have 🙂 My favourite has to be the Lotus. I’ve only ever seen one once and it fascinated me and both your shots are stunning.

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  14. Stunning captures of so many varieties of flowers, Anne! While fields of tulips are mind boggling, seeing them up close is delightful.

    it’s sad to read about the demise of Daffodil Hill (at least in 2019), as well as the draining of Land Park pond. Did the zoo ever get zoned to move to a new location? Glad to see McKinley Park rose garden is alive and well. There are still some dedicated parks staff working there.

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    1. Thanks Terri! The zoo is definitely relocating to Elk Grove. Elk Grove City Council recently approved the plans. The project is projected to be completed by 2029. It will be much larger and have cabins and a lodge for overnighters. It won’t be our small zoo! I’m hoping the Land Park pond will be filled once the threat of bird flu is gone. Daffodil Hill never reopened. I think the family was just done with the effort and the way some people abused the park. I really appreciate the volunteer efforts that keep some of these places going.

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  15. Absolutely gorgeous flowers, Anne! I’m in awe of the variety and beauty of them. The pink striped tulip is incredible. Can you imagine an entire garden of them! A wonderful post.

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