Garfield Park 2019 summer floral display

While in Indianapolis over the Labor Day holiday, I made a point to swing by the Garfield Park Sunken Garden to photograph the annual summer floral display, which I've endeavored to document in pictures most years since 2004, the year I obtained my first digital digital single-lens reflect camera (an original digital Canon Rebel, a/k/a the 300D)

It was nice to see the park and gardens again; the latter remain nattily maintained.  Fate can be a strange force in life, and after a recent experience, I can include one's photography pursuits in that grouping.

I'll admit ... that doing these shoots so many times over the years, it becomes a challenge to find something new and/or creative. I try. Not sure I succeed all the time, but maybe you'll see a few different things in this year's collection.

I lead off the post with my favorite shot of the shoot ... a closeup of a display in one of the large planter vases positioned on the plaza overlook. I was particularly fond of the array of violet colors in the arrangements. A perspective shot of the planter can be seen in the first photo below.

As always, to view a larger, sharper version of a photo, simply click on the image. This is particularly helpful when accessing the blog from a mobile device. To view a full gallery of the Sunken Garden shoot in Garfield Park, click on the link in this sentence.

Photo geek stuff: I did the entire shoot with my Canon 6D and Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD lens equipped with a B+W polarizing filter. I took three slightly different exposures (one as metered, one 2/3 stop over and one 2/3 stop under metered), which I blended into a single frame in post-processing using Photomatix high-dynamic range (HDR) software. Most of the shots were taken at 100 close to 100 ISO and f/8. I used the shutter as my variable for the differing exposures for each composition.

I have grabbed the shot above of the labeled doors to the gardens previously, but usually from the south side of the overlook plaza. This view of the north doors was taken looking to the southwest, where the sun was beginning to lower. It's not of optimum quality, but using HDR helped salvage a usable version, I feel. In the two photos below, I present closeup and perspective shots of a display of Medusa ornamental peppers, something I had not see at the Sunken Garden before. 

Displays from the main lower level (above) and overlook plaza (below). 

Above: A visitor at work on a bench in the plaza overlook. 

Above and below: Slightly different angles of the conservatory and a fountain juxtaposed with the floral arrangements. I think I got some from the other side of the garden, which can be found in the SmugMug gallery. 

In pursuit of something different, I grabbed the above multi-directional-turn bed in the lower level. Below is a closeup of an arrangement of Zinia Hybridias from a display on the upper level overlook plaza. 

Above and below are two "different" looks from the garden. I've never tried the radical angle above, using the planter as my starter point to look, on a leftward angle, toward the fountains and conservatory. The shot of the planters below turned out to be a challenge. There were several planters like this along the ledge of the overlook, but there were visitors seated on benches alongside most of them. The shot and angle I grabbed below was the only option I could get without pestering a seated visitor. 

Above and below: These tables, chairs and a chess board on the overlook plaza were new to me. They weren't there the last time I was in the Sunken Garden, which was summer of 2017. 

Above and below: I like the full Sunken Garden perspective shots, even though they, too, can be a challenge if the shooter's goal is for optimum quality rather than simple documentation. I liked the one below particularly because it's the first time I've been able to accentuate the circular pedestrian path in this manner. 

While I wanted to avoid including people in my shot of the overlook planters in the photo presented a little higher in this post, I was not averse to integrating visitors into other shots, as evidenced by the shot above and the first two below. I particularly liked the secondary element subtlety of the individual in the second shot below.  

I conclude with an exterior shot of the main entrance to the conservatory (above) and, below, a series of shots of Blake's Garden, developed in recent years to appeal to young visitors to the park. I did this shoot on Labor Day, and Blake's Garden was not open that day. So all of the shots you see below were taken from outside the Blake Garden's gate or through the perimeter fencing. The garden is named for Blake Bowell, a park enthusiast who died of brain cancer at age 25 in 2017. Blake was the son of Mark Bowell, executive director of the non-profit Friends of Garfield Park organization. 

Savannah, Part I: Forsyth Square

Savannah, Ga., had been on my travel "wish list" for at least 10 years, so it was with great satisfaction -- and enjoyment of beautiful weather -- that I spent several days there in early March. But it was just the start of a protracted East Coast travel odyssey that went well into March. The itinerary included two stops in North Carolina, as well as a return to Charleston, S.C., and first visits to Tybee Island, Ga., and North Myrtle Beach, S.C.

In trying to devise a plan to present my images in blog posts, I came up ideas that were all over the place. I kept asking myself, "Where do I begin?" I really didn't shoot much in North Carolina, yet I still managed to take thousands of photographs. The pictures you'll see over the course of the next few posts will come from all the other places mentioned in the previous paragraph.

After kicking around the "Where do I begin?" question for several weeks while I processed the images, it occurred to me just today that I would not only start in Savannah ... but in a specific place in Savannah -- Forsyth Square -- and to lead with the image you see at the top of the post. This photograph brought me the most joy on the trip -- because of its spontaneity, and because of the wonderfully charming, albeit brief, exchange Lee Ann and I had with these gentlemen.

We came upon them almost just as you see them -- sitting on a bench in Forsyth Square, by far the largest and most distinguished among Savannah's 22 neighborhood parks, or "squares." Most of the parks are square-shaped or marginally rectangular; Forsyth, at the southern tip of the series of squares, is decidedly rectangular and extends six blocks long (north and south) and two blocks wide (east and west). But I digress.

I thought "portrait" the moment I laid eyes on these nattily dressed gentlemen. Lee Ann spotted them at the same time I did, and without us even conferring, Lee Ann hustled ahead of me, smiled at the two men, and politely asked if she could take their picture. In response, one of the men (I forgot now which) smiled, pointed at me and made a joke about how I might not appreciate her doing that. I quickly told them that I would not mind at all, and that taking their portrait had also occurred to me ... but I was much slower to process how I would approach them to do it.

The two men kindly consented, and before I had time to size up a composition, Lee Ann had her iPhone in place and took several photographs with it. When it came to my turn, one of the men noticed I had a Canon DSLR (a 6D) and a strap attached to it labeled with the Canon logo and said something in joking fashion (I forgot exactly what) indicating how my gear was much more serious.

I used the trunk and arching lower branch of a large oak tree behind the bench where they were sitting to sort of "frame" the subjects (right). But weeks later, when I was back home and brought the images up on my computer screen during post-processing, it occurred to me to apply a crop and see how that looked. I don't mind the original composition, but I much prefer the cropped version, which is why I picked it to lead with at the top of this post.

After I finished my shots (which I took in short order), I showed the men the pictures on the display on the back of the camera and then the four of us introduced ourselves. I'm embarrassed to say that I forgot the man on the right's name, even though I asked him to repeat his first name because I thought he said it was Jay. He corrected me and said it was James. I just don't remember the last name now. The man on the left's name is John Harrington. I wish I would have asked them if they would have liked to receive copies of the photos, but ... I didn't. So if John and James ever see these photos again, it'll be because someone they know will have stumbled upon this post.

There's a wonderful conclusion to the story. Six years later, we returned to Savannah and Forsyth Square, and I encountered a few women minding a kiosk along the main sidewalk. I started a chat by asking them if they knew the men in the picture (which I showed them). They said yes. They said the men still come to the park regularly. The told me the surname of James is Washington. I gave them a copy of the photo so they could show John and James that I had returned. 

The remainder of this post is devoted to the rest of my images from Forsyth Square, where you'll find the city's marquee fountain as well as several monuments, an amphitheater, scores of elegant oak trees (and Spanish moss dangling from them), floral arrangements and open space where people lounge and take in the sun.

As always, click on any picture to pull up a larger, sharper version. To view a full gallery of my shots in Savannah (including photos that will be appearing in subsequent posts), click on the link in this sentence.

Approaching the fountain in Forsyth Square (above), and the elegant parade of oak branches and Spanish moss (below) lining the sidewalk along the park's east side. 

Above: A different section of the walk along the eastside of the square looking from the opposite direction.

Above and next two below: Wide views and a detail shot of the fountain.

 Above: The amphitheater.

Above and below: Examples of monuments in the square.

Examples of floral displays (above and below) and the open meadow (second below), where people feel comfortable lounging.

Above: A cafe in the middle of the square that includes -- much to Lee Ann's delight -- a Starbucks station.

A cloud show .. at the Sunken Garden

Since 2004, one of my annual pursuits is photo documenting the annual summer floral display in the Sunken Garden of Garfield Park in Indianapolis.

I took a few years hiatus (2012-14) from the project because the park's rangers during that period gave photographers like me a difficult time while enforcing a conservatory rule requiring professional portrait photographers to obtain a license if they wanted to use the Sunken Garden as a backdrop for their portrait photography.

I may have expounded on this experience with the rangers previously, so I'll skip the details. Suffice it to say I had no trouble shooting the display last year, so I ventured to the garden last week to shoot the 2016 display. It was an extremely humid day, and I knew of weather reports that a storm system would be heading through Central Indiana in the afternoon. It was mostly cloudy around 2:30 or so when I got to the park, and I tried to get it done quickly to avoid getting caught in the downpour.

I succeeded ... but barely. I started feeling huge but sporadic raindrops as I walked home, and the full deluge came about five minutes or so after I'd made it into the house. But I knew the storm was coming when I was in the park. I could see crazy cloud formations, which I integrated into some of my photos. Those clouds will be the distinguishing aspect of the 2016 shoot.

The photo leading off the post is one of three images I made that involve some interesting textured sky. It also is notable because at the last minute, I applied a crop on the stair rail at the bottom of the image. I included the full rail in the composition because I thought it would make an interesting framing element ... and a leading line into the garden. But the more I gazed at it, the more I felt it distracted the viewer from what I considered to be the focus -- the garden and sky. I include a copy of the pre-cropped version at right. What do you think? Did I make the right call?

A full gallery of the shoot can be found at my site at SmugMug.com.

Photo geek stuff: This is beginning to sound like a broken record, but here goes anyway ... All photos were taken with a Canon 6D and Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L lens. As I do for all my landscape images anymore, I bracketed exposures for treatment in Photomatix high-dynamic range (HDR) software in post-processing. I took three images for each scene, one at normal exposure, one at plus 3/4 stop, and one at minute 3/4 stop. The bracketing and melding in HDR proved particularly beneficial for the images with the detailed cloud formations, scenes that contain a high degree of contrasty lighting. I used an ISO of 250 and aperture of f/8, rendering the shutter as the variable. The average exposure shutter was 1/160, so the two other frames were taken at speeds slightly above and below that. usually 1/333 and 1/80.

Above and below are the two other images in which the sky was a key element of the composition. The image above looks northeast, the one below looks due east. I had to shoot both images twice because first attempts were too overexposed.