Tag: #NYBG

Some Like It Hot

PITTSBURGH…Freeze warning tonight. Where did the summer go? Why can’t Indian summer last longer? Just last week, I was soaking up the warm sun at the New York Botanical Garden, admiring the cacti in the Conservatory.

Cactus, NYBG, New York Botanical Garden
The prickly texture and natural symmetry of this barrel cactus stands out in the sunlight at the New York Botanical Garden #NYBG.

A Chrysanthemum, that’s all

This photograph is meant to be simple. It invites you to gaze upon a single flower. Enjoy it. Think about it. Appreciate it.

White chrysanthemum catches my attention at the New York Botanical Garden #NYBG.

Do you know what I think? I think we should conserve Nature, in all of its diversity, and start now to save our planet. See David Attenborough’s documentary on Netflix. It’s powerful.

The Magical Conservatory

Getting out to photograph nature in 2020 has been challenging. I’ve become better acquainted with the parks near my home than ever before, but last week was different. My husband and I drove to New York City for a family visit. Seeing the family after a long wait was terrific, but it was also fun to visit the New York Botanical Garden and within it, the tropical plants in the beautiful Enid Haupt Conservatory.

Walking through the Haupt Conservatory, we were surrounded by ferns, palm trees, an assortment of cacti and lots of unfamiliar and varied green plants. Since it wasn’t crowded at all, we could take our time, and I could take photos!

Sunshine streamed through the windows at high noon, so conditions were perfect for Infrared Photography — my new creative pursuit. With a Sony a6300 camera converted to see only Infrared light and part of the visible light spectrum, only above 590 nanometers, I captured a dozen or so images. It was fun to have a fresh subject to shoot, and some new infrared images to process.

Here is one of my Conservatory images of (visibly green) foliage looking quite different in infrared.

Banana trees in the New York Botanical Garden #NYBG, captured in Infrared and High Spectrum (greater than 590 nm) of visible light. Processed in Capture One, Photoshop and Color Efex Pro.

Learning New Methods

What did you learn today? Whether your field is medicine or teaching or child rearing, I’m sure you learn something new every day. Right now I’m using these few months close to home to learn lots about processing infrared photographs. I’m finding Infrared Photography an interesting creative outlet.

After having a Sony camera converted to capture only Infrared and “SuperColor” light (over 580 nanometers), I learned how to White Balance, Channel Swap, and adjust the hue, saturation and tonality of the color captured. That may be a lot of meaningless jargon to you, but the message is this: it is all quite technical and detailed, but the tools, once mastered, are fun to play with!

Today’s share is a photograph I shot outside the Conservatory of the New York Botanical Garden on October 3. I chose the sharpen the foreground plants while fogging and softening the background. I also chose to feature the golden color we love in the Fall against the deep blue sky. All of these choices are creative ones; I like that this image is uniquely mine.

Photography

Variations on a Peony

The detail and delicacy of a spring peony is best described not with words, but with a photograph. The New York Botanical Garden has a long, luxurious peony bed, full of different colors and varieties. Visit the Botanical Garden on your next visit to New York City. Easily reached on the D train or by Uber. The gift shop is inspiring, too!

#NYBG. #newyork, #peony, #flowers, #spring, #pink
Delicate round petals with even more delicate veins slowly unfurl.

#NYBG, #newyork, #spring, #peony, #pink, #variety, #nature, #macro, #sony
This magenta peony with the bushy white center looks vibrant against its green leaves.

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Chihuly’s Organic Towers

Chihuly glass sculptures, installed in many prominent American botanical gardens, ostensibly aim to imitate nature. How do you compare these sublime towers of glass at the New York Botanical Gardens to a nearby stalk of blooms?

#NYBG, #chihuly, #tower, #yellow, #red, #tower, #nature, #art
Chihuly’s yellow and red spire of glass spokes stand in stark contrast to the round pavilion at the New York Botanical Garden.

Inside the neoclassical pavilion, I found this simple and elegant stalk of blossoms. It is rather understated, you might say, but similar to the sculpture in its overall shape and repetition of blossoms up the stalk. Here the colors are more muted, not bold, primary colors the sculpture has.

#NYBG, #newyork, #nature, #closeup, #macro, #symmetry, #pole, #flower, #simple, #elegant, #delicate, #sony
Close up of delicate blossoms emerging symmetrically around the plant’s stalk at New York Botanical Garden.

Inside the pavilion shown in the first photo is a more fanciful Chihuly tower sculpture that reminds me of a Dr. Seuss illustration. It is white with pink polka dots, and its spokes curl like snakes. Symmetry is no longer the operative word. We might say this piece shows more personality.

#NYBG, #newyork, #chihuly, #glass, #sculpture, #art, #pink, #pinkandwhite, #drseuss, #personality
Polka dots and irregular curls give this Chihuly sculpture a different personality. New York Botanical Garden, inside the pavilion.

 

Plant textures

This summer is a perfect time to get outdoors — in between the rain showers — and appreciate the textures of the plants. I found these contrasting textures at the New York Botanical Garden.

#green, #plants, #textures, #NYBG, #newyork, #NYC, #nature, #summer
Some green plants look as inviting as a soft pillow. Others — not so much! Find these at the New York Botanical Garden.

More Chihuly at NYBG

It’s true: Art helps you to see the world in a fresh new way. First we are attracted to Art for its shape, its color, its sound, its fascination value or its beauty.

#chihuly, #NYBG, #newyork, #botanical, #glass, #art, #sculpture, #nature, #blue
Chihuly’s blue globe radiates white beams, at the New York Botanical Garden.

Next, we relate it to what we know. Third, we begin to see new relationships.

#palm, #tropical, #rockgarden, #inspiration, #NYBG, #newyork, #botanical, #botanicalgarden, #sony
Was Chihuly inspired by the sun, or perhaps by palm trees like these?

 

Chihuly captures nature

The New York Botanical Garden is currently running a stunning Chihuly glass exhibit, and now is great time to visit.  You will find about a dozen installations while you also admire all the spring flowers in bloom and stroll in the beautiful grounds.

It’s no accident that the gifted glass artist Chihuly chooses botanical gardens like Pittsburgh’s Phipps Conservatory or Fort Lauderdale’s botanical garden to display his work. Chihuly glass pieces often take their inspiration from nature, and mimic plant forms with great success.

#chihuly, #leaves, #NYBG, #newyork, #botanical, #botanicalgarden, #plants, #glass, #art, #artimitatesnature, #green, #greenandblue
How beautifully this Chihuly glass sculpture fits in with these tropical plants.

My daughter and I agreed that this was our favorite piece at the New York Botanical Garden installation.

Uncommon colors for May

Photographing flowers at the New York Botanical Garden with my daughter Erin, I was treated to eye dazzling displays of pink and green, especially in the peony garden. But the rock garden offered some different visual treats. One of them was this delicious juxtaposition of velvety crimson and a frosty green. I loved the way the frosty green ferns framed the spherical peony blossom.

#newyork, #botanical, #peony, #red, #redandgreen, #may, #uncommon, #colors, #shapes, #bronx, #nybotanical, #garden, #sony
A refreshing combination of frosty green ferns frame a deep red peony at the New York Botanical Garden.