A walk in the garden continued...

After seeing my last post, my friend Dara commented that the photos were "pretty!" but "also sort of strange," because "orchids are weird-looking."  I can't say I disagree.  Orchids can be quite beautiful but really are odd-looking.  I'd try to espouse on some metaphor or simile with greater life meaning, but I have a headache and am ready for bed.  So you are on your own for that one.  Just enjoy these photos and the orchids' strange beauty.

(U.S. Botanical Gardens, DC, photographed February 2011)

A walk in the garden...

As I mentioned in my last post, I was in d.c. last weekend with my friend Meghan.  It was a sunny but very windy day, so we took shelter at the botanical gardens.  And I took full advantage of the opportunity to take photos of all the amazing flowers, which included several dozen kinds of orchids.  Big ones. Little ones.  Purple with white spots.  White with purple spots.  Ones that looked like dancing fairies, and ones that looked like evil monsters.  It was quite the collection.  Mind you, there are some 20,000 types of orchids, but I think I would run out of space in my memory card if they were all at the botanical gardens in d.c.

(U.S. Botanical Gardens, DC, photographed February 2011)

Dreaming of Spring

As I mentioned in my last post, I spent the long weekend in dc with my dear friend Meghan.  We had a brief reprieve from the cold, dark winter during my visit.  It was sunny and bright, so Meghan and I took to the streets of the district.  Unfortunately, it was also windy, very windy.  Meghan and I had no choice but to take shelter from the fierce gusts.  Luckily, we were right by the U.S. Botanical Garden.  We quickly decided that these greenhouses would not only be a great way to enjoy the sunlight without the blinding wind but also would give Meghan a chance to cross something off of her dc bucket list of things to do.  Oh, and there was free admission!  I love that about dc museums.     

The many gardens full of colorful blossoms and exotic plants would also give me a chance to break my streak of uninspiring days without photography and start taking some photos again.  (Meghan had thought of that, too, as a reason to visit the gardens.  She's such a great friend).  And boy, did I have fun.  It reminded me of visits to the Mitchell Park Domes -- the botanical gardens in Milwaukee -- with my dad during Christmas breaks when I was younger.  We'd go, cameras in hand, to take a break from the cold winters of Wisconsin and practice taking photographs of flowers. 

My love of taking photos of flowers has not waned since those days with my dad.  I took a lot of photos at the U.S. Botanical Gardens with Meghan (ya, expect more posts on flowers), but what I loved about these is the dream-like composition.  Suits my mood, in which I'm dreaming of spring.

(U.S. Botanical Gardens, DC, photographed February 2011)

Inspiration Station

Hi again.  It's been awhile.

There was a bit of a hiatus in posting.  Three weeks, in fact.  With work and friends and a surprisingly active social calender, I didn't have the time or energy to organize any posts.  What's worse is that I wasn't even taking photos.  I was uninspired.  Blame it on the snow, the cold weather, the grey days...  I didn't feel like taking out my camera, because, really, what was I going to take a photo of? The dirty, slushy streets? The garbage that sat outside for days waiting for pick up?  One word.  Gross.

But then something changed.

The weather became decidedly spring-like.  Mind you, it was only for a weekend.  But what a glorious, lovely, long weekend it was.  I took the train from nyc to dc, to visit my friend Meghan (aka my cruising bestie).  We bopped all around dc, and suddenly I felt inspired.  Maybe it was sun, maybe it was all the time outdoors, but, let me tell you, I took a lot of photos.  Including these.  Which generally don't involve the sun or the outdoors, despite my prior comment.  Apparently, I was also inspired by the dc underground, too. 

FYI - these were all taken with my iphone, using the instagram app (a new favorite of mine). 

 

 

(Metro, Washington D.C., photographed February 2011)