Last weekend, Carey and I visited the Denver Botanic Gardens for a photo shoot. We spent the afternoon in the hothouses. We entered the hothouses, and after chatting for a while, we got to work. I set up close to this hibiscus plant with a huge red flower — certainly the largest hibiscus flower that I have seen. On looking through the view finder, I was greeted by… Fog! My lens was cold and became a magnet for the humid air. This was my first time photographing inside the hothouse so I was not prepared for the environment.
I was amused to discover my misfortune, so I decided to turned this to my advantage. This was the perfect soft focus filter! After wiping the front element, I was left with enough moisture to give a nice soft focus image.
Hibiscus With Soft Focus
Meanwhile, Carey had made many more images while I was wiping the lens and waiting for the moisture to clear. The hothouse had several cycad plants. I found this one in an area where there was very little air movement. This image was created from several images on different focus planes; these were then merged into a single image with Helicon. This black and white rendition gives the appearance of a metallic plant.
Botanic Garden Cycad
In the orchid house, several water features are present. One plant with purple and blue leaves was located on the edge of the water features. A Lensbaby allowed me to create an image where a select group of leaves was in focus, with the rest of the image blurred.
Purple And Blue Leaves
This violet phaelanopsis orchid got similar treatment. My dad used to grow orchids as a hobby. This hothouse reminded me of the collection that he had amassed in the years before he passed away. I could recognize many of the species that he had collected.
Violet Phaelanopsis Orchid
One of the ponds was stocked with Khoi fish. While making images of the bubbles on the surface of the pond, one of the Knoi swam towards the waterfall. A long exposure showed the flowing water. The Khoi was swimming around, rendered as a patch of orange.
Khoi Under The Waterfall
Finally, we headed to another hothouse, where several tulips and amaryllis were flowering, well ahead of their normal springtime season. This tulip caught my attention with the stripe running up towards the top left of the flower.
Pink Tulip
Soon after, Carey and I escaped the heat of the hothouses to take in the crisp Colorado air. Some of Carey’s images from this photoshoot may be found here:
We enjoyed the shoot, and discussed some locations for a future shoot before heading out.