Missouri Botanical Gardens – Suburban Adventure

Dallas and I didn’t make quite as good time as I wished but we arrived at the Missouri Botanical Gardens around 3:30 PM and my membership to the New York Botanical Gardens garnered us free entrance. Â Their special exhibit was Orchids of Japan and I almost completely failed to get any shots combining both. Â If I had the ability to take the shot over again, I would have pulled the camera back to get more of the ceiling or at least less of the ground cover.

Many of the Japanese themed pieces were almost boring as moonstone lanterns stood below paper lamps but some elements were made by lighting:

The shot is crowded but enforces the maxim that interesting shots require interesting light. Â Here, the sun is being deflected by greenhouse top, low trees, and then another closer-to-ground layer of plants.

The real stars were the orchids which seem to have grown in popularity as almost every major garden I’ve seen has some sort of orchid show. Â This was the first place where I got to really try my 100mm macro lens and I took pictures of plants I can’t identify with gusto.

The problem with macro lenses in the hands of someone who doesn’t know how to use them, namely me, is that you lose context. Â There isn’t enough “other” to draw the picture together and few things make enough sense in isolation to form a whole story. Â Flowers are easy as they say everything you need to know in a small area. Â Other subjects aren’t as forgiving.

The Missouri Botanical Gardens simply kept going. Â Another of their exhibits was a temperate garden, in this case with nice shrubwork and impatiens.