Final Impressions

Here are a few final impressions that I took away with me from the Orchid Show at the Chicago Botanic Garden this year. I made a total of three visits there, and each time saw something different that caught my eye as I wandered through the greenhouses.

These images will hopefully carry me through the final days of winter until we finally welcome spring flowers and warmer temperatures. I can’t wait for the new growing season to start, both at the Chicago Botanic Garden and in my own garden.

The show is on through March 26th so there is still time to see all these beautiful blooms if you happen to be in the area. Even if you’re not, it’s well worth the trip.

Brilliant Timing!

Having already postponed our 50th wedding anniversary celebrations earlier in the year because of bad weather, we opted, instead, to have a family get-together at our house this past weekend. My cousin was flying in from England and everyone was looking forward to seeing people that they hadn’t seen since COVID began.

So, what do you do when you’re expecting 17 people for dinner the next day? Why, you get rushed to hospital for an appendectomy. Brilliant timing, I don’t think! However, the surgeon did an amazing job on the morning of the party and I was home by late afternoon to enjoy the celebrations.

Since I had been encouraged to walk about a bit once I got home, we followed through with plans to take my cousin to the Orchid Show on Monday.

Because I’d already visited the Orchid Show on two other occasions, this time I concentrated more on the other things that were growing in the greenhouses. The cacti and succulant foliage were well worth a shot or two.

All’s well that ends well. I still have a few more pictures of the Orchid Show to post but, for now, I’m just going to sit back and relax and give myself time to heal.

Sunshine And Orchids

What a difference a few days make. Today we are recovering from yesterday’s ice storm, but on Monday the weather was nice enough to allow for a trip to the Chicago Botanic Garden and the annual Orchid Show.

Heading indoors for the Orchid Show, we found the place packed, not surprisingly, as it was Presidents Day. The theme for the show this year is ‘Orchids Magnified’ and the layout featured some interesting displays that included large magnifying lenses and small, hand held magnifying glasses with which to get a closer look at the blooms.

Although the magnifying lenses were an interesting concept, they were something of a challenge to photograph and, with the place being so crowded, it wasn’t always easy to maneuver in order to get the best shot.

Thankfully, much of the exhibition was sans lenses and so the camera was able to capture a clear image of some beautiful blooms.

The Orchid Show runs through March 26 so there’s still plenty of time left to visit. I would like to go again, perhaps when it’s not quite so busy, to take a less hectic look at things without feeling rushed to move on.

There are special hours for photographers to enjoy the show on Tuesdays from 8:15am to 9:45am. And there will be a post-show plant sale on March 30 from 9am to 4pm when many of the orchids in the show will be for sale.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Change Of Perspective

This week, Patti is asking us to Change Our Perspective for the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. I spent much of the time on Friday on my knees at the Chicago Botanic Garden, photographing flowers at the annual Orchid Show. This was my second visit, the first being on the previous Sunday when there were crowds of people and not much room to maneuver. It was a different story on Friday afternoon when there were times that I had the place almost to myself. When I wasn’t crouching down, I was looking up or twisting round and performing all kinds of contortions in order to get a different view of the blooms on show.

It’s not always easy to separate flowers from the surrounding foliage and sometimes it’s necessary to get into some rather undignified postures just to get the right angle.

 

They change the theme of the show every year and this time it was all about color and light, with some intriguing installations to highlight the displays. This one with the mirrored globes provided an interesting view of the orchids from different perspectives.

And another, with various colored strings that caught the rays of the sun through the greenhouse windows, provided ample opportunity to view the flowers in a whole different light.

While the towering chandelier, although not the easiest thing to access, still offered a variety of angles that resulted in a few interesting shots.

I always feel like a kid in a candy store as I’m taking in the sights at the show. There are just so many delightful blooms to reward the effort of a few somewhat uncomfortable moments of trying to get up from a kneeling position. The ends justify the means in this case.

 

 

 

In The Tropics

With still no sign of anything growing in the garden, bitterly cold temperatures and gloomy skies, it was a welcome relief, as it usually is at this time of year, to visit the orchid show at the Chicago Botanic Garden where the theme was ‘In The Tropics.’

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Close-Up

Many thanks to Ann-Christine for her choice of Close-Up as the topic for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. This came at a most opportune time for me since, on Friday, I went to the Chicago Botanic Garden specifically to get some close-up images at the Orchid Show.  This was something in the nature of an experiment. I don’t have a macro lens as such, but I came across a box filled with filters and adapters some of which I used to use with my old Minolta film camera.  Naturally, the macro filter didn’t fit any of my digital lenses but after cobbling together a weird combination of zoom lens, wide-angle adapter and macro filter I finally came away with something that I thought might work and, I have to say, although not perfect the results weren’t too bad.

Weekly Photo Challenge – I’d Rather Be……..

…….photographing flowers.  And that’s exactly what I was doing last week during a second visit to the Orchid Show at the Chicago Botanic Garden with a cousin who was visiting from England, despite the blizzard that was raging outside.   I know!  The first one isn’t an orchid, but it was just too beautiful to not capture an image.

For more on The Weekly Photo Challenge at The Daily Post go to I’d Rather Be…

Weekly Photo Challenge – Out of this World

After all the snow and freezing temperatures that we’ve experienced over the past few months, it was nice to catch a welcome break when the sun came out and things warmed up sufficiently for us to take an almost leisurely stroll at the Chicago Botanic Garden this week.

Add to that the pleasure of seeing the ‘Asia in Bloom’ orchid show and it turned out to be a most enjoyable day.  As always, the Garden has done a splendid job of displaying these gorgeous blooms.

Each year, the show has a slightly different theme that gives it a fresh appeal and affords the photographer a chance to capture a whole new array of images.

Of course, the orchids are the main attraction and the colors and shapes are truly out of this world, reminding us that nature is indeed a miraculous gift for all to enjoy.

 

The show is open through March 25th so I hope you’ll take the opportunity to visit if you’re in the area.  For more on The Weekly Photo Challenge at The Daily Post go to Out of This World

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Orchids

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week is asking for a word that includes the letter O and, with winter on our doorstep, I took a look back at an event held earlier this year at the Chicago Botanic Garden that has me looking forward to the next orchid show which will be held February 10 – March 25, 2018.

For more on Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge go to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Letter O – Needs to have the letter O anywhere in the word

The Nature Of Orchids

Time again for what has become an annual ‘must see’ on my calendar of things to do; The Chicago Botanic Garden Orchid Show.  Orchids are just one of Mother Nature’s miracles and no matter how many times I see them, I am in awe of their beauty. This year’s show was, if anything, even more amazing than those of previous years. Maybe I hit it just at the right time.  If you leave it too late, the blooms are past their best. These were spectacular!

As usual, I felt like a kid in a candy store with so many gorgeous flowers to photograph.  I heard one woman say, “It’s like a living postcard!”  How right she was!

And, if I understood things correctly, there will be even more orchids to see at future shows as the Garden is planning to add new greenhouses, specifically for the purpose of raising its own orchids, as part of the Kris Jarantoski Campus Garden.  Hooray!!