Redbuds in Bloom

On an impulse yesterday I decided to drive to Noerenberg Memorial Gardens to see if they were open. The last time we had driven there the gates were closed and locked.

The gardens were open yesterday!

And when I arrived there were crews working there (mowing, weeding, and working on the gazebo that overlooks the lake) but no visitors. I had the gardens all to myself for almost an hour. It wasn’t until I was ready to leave that visitors started to arrive.

My first impression of the gardens was that there wasn’t much in bloom. It looked like several of the gardens had been dug up and replanted this year and many of the plants were small and not in bloom.

Slow down, you move too fast

But the longer I lingered and wandered around the more I saw. I think that’s true of any walk in nature. If one slows down and takes careful time to observe, nature reveals its magic.

“Sometimes I think there are only two instructions we need to follow to develop and deepen our spiritual life: slow down and let go.”
― Oriah Mountain Dreamer, The Dance: Moving To the Rhythms of Your True Self

When I arrived at Noerenberg Gardens it was cloudy (which was why I decided to head out there yesterday). I was hoping that the clouds would stay around long enough for me to photograph a few flowers. But soon after I arrived the clouds parted and sunny blue skies prevailed.

Fortunately there were enough flowers and plants in the shade of trees that I could still effectively make photographs. A couple of times I used my body to shade a flower that was in bright sunlight, an effective strategy but tricky because it’s often difficult to both shade the flower and frame the shot the way I want to frame it.

If you’re not a photographer it may seem wrong that I prefer cloudy days for nature photography, but trust me, the light is beautiful and filtered when clouds cover the sky. The clouds act as a giant soft-box, eliminating harsh shadows, and strong contrasts.

The first thing I noticed in the gardens when I arrived was…

There were several redbuds in bloom. At first I didn’t try photographing them. Even though I love these trees, I’ve tried and tried to photograph redbuds in bloom. I’ve never been happy with the results. So I looked but didn’t photograph them. But after awhile I felt their delicate tiny blossoms calling to me. I ended up spending some very creative and enjoyable time making photos of them.

And today, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 10 YEARS (Really!) I actually made some photographs of them that I like. It was a gentle reminder to never give up. If we keep practicing and working we keep learning and growing. Do you love seeing redbuds in bloom?

There were also iris, bleeding hearts, early peonies, bluebells, ferns, lilacs, and pansies in bloom in the gardens as well as a few flowers I am unfamiliar with. I took my kneeling pad with me this time so getting down to get up close wasn’t quite so hard on my knees.

And Now for Some Photography Details

I had my extension tubes in my pocket. I can’t count the number of times that I added or subtracted an extension tube to/from my lens in order to get close (or far) enough away from the subject I was photographing. Extension tubes are small hollow tubes that one attaches to a lens to allow them to get closer to the subject they are photographing. Every lens has a minimum focusing distance and often photographers use macro lenses to get up really close to their subject. Since I don’t own a macro lens, I use extension tubes, a much more inexpensive solution. The longer the extension tube, the closer you can get to the subject.

“A garden should make you feel you’ve entered privileged space — a place not just set apart but reverberant — and it seems to me that, to achieve this, the gardener must put some kind of twist on the existing landscape, turn its prose into something nearer poetry.”
― Michael Pollan, Second Nature: A Gardener’s Education

I didn’t take my tripod with me on this trip. In fact, I rarely take it out with me any more unless I am going to photograph the moon, do landscape photography or make long shutter speed photos. So having a fast enough exposure to eliminate movement blur is important. And being strong enough in my body to hold still while I’m reaching or bending to frame each photograph is the challenge. Without stability I’m moving all around and it shows in the photographs. I’m happy to say that this spring I finally feel that I’m really getting stronger all over after my hip replacement last June. Every day I give thanks for this!

What creative pursuits are you enjoying these beautiful spring days? Have you slowed down and begun to enjoy this different pace of life? What one activity would bring you joy today?

May you walk in beauty.