Look What's Blooming at Our House

Daylilies, of course! My DH is a collector of plants. Our yard is filled with these luscious blooms. I took these pictures during the late evening hours. I am now using Aperture mode on my camera. Most of the pictures were taken f/8 aperture...give or take 1 or 2 stops.

This first picture is my favorite.


















I enjoy taking close-up shots to capture the beauty. Can you imagine if I didn't zoom in, how bland the pictures would have been?

The only changes I've made to these pictures is the file size, slight cropping, and adding my copyright. I let my camera do all the work. Apparently, it's doing a great job. :)

Camera: Nikon D40
Lens: 18mm-200mm
Flash: None

At the Arboretum

A few weeks ago DH and I took a trip to the National Arboretum in Washington, DC. We were on a mission to take pictures of the beautiful conifers in the Gotelli Collection. I'm still going through the hundreds of pictures we took that day.

After our photo shoot, we drove around the Arboretum and stopped at the "Columns". We came across a wonderful surprise that I wanted to share with you:

Aren't they adorable?


One of them got excited to get its picture taken that he fell over:

Chick overboard!


A quick flap and he's dried off:

Drying off


Lesson learned...keep away from the edge


Camera: Nikon D40
Lens: 18mm-200mm
Flash: none

Viburnums...A Sweet Scent

This past weekend, I was captivated by the sweet scent from our front porch. It's that time of year again. Spring is in the air.

I cut a few branches from two of our Viburnum shrubs. DH will have to provide the common and latin names later. I was placing them in one of my old paint jars (from my watercolor days), when I had a photog moment. I grabbed my camera and snapped a few shots. These were taken in natural light from a window.

Focal length: 60 mm


Focal length: 130 mm


I love it when I can capture a moment without flash. I found that light from a window is a wonderful source for taking those natural pictures. Give it a try. :)


Camera: Nikon D40
Lens: 18mm-200mm
Flash: none
Photoshop: resize for web

How To Series...Coming Soon

I started this blog with the intent of sharing my pictures, photography experiences, and tips. Here it sits neglected, but not for long. With Spring in the air and many bulbs and trees are in bloom, I'm coming out of hibernation to do a few posts on how to take better pictures. I have a lot of ideas in my head right now and need to take my camera along with me.

Stay tuned as I collect my thoughts and pictures for future posts.

Happy Spring!

A Trip to DC

DB and I took the Metrorail into DC. I brought my flash with me, but decided not to use it. Lately, I've been intrigued with pictures taken without flash. Just normal interior daylight pictures. So, I wanted to see if I could last the whole day without using the flash. It was quite easy to do. Today was overcast/cloudy. The sun was hiding from us.

Our first stop was Union Station. There were plenty of shops and plenty of places to eat. There were a lot more folks visiting the eateries than they were shopping in the stores. Sign of the times.

Union Station was opened in 1907, but completed in 1908. In the following pictures, you will see some of the 22-karat leaf adorned ceilings. The design and architecture of this place (e.g. curves) is truly amazing.

Main Hall at Union Station


One of the side atrium entrances with shops

Another view of the ceiling with the gold leaf. Center Cafe in the middle.

Entrance to B. Smith restaurant. Known as the Presidential Suite of Union Station.


Inside the East Hall. Interesting artwork along the upper edges of the walls.

We head down to Chinatown to find a place to eat. So many restaurants have shut down over the years.

Chinatown arch

The noodle man


After lunch, we head down 7th street in search of the International Spy Museum. We eye spy it two blocks away.

It took less than 2 hours to cover this museum. All I can say is Wow! There's a lot to see, read, and take in at this museum. Of course, no photography was allowed here.

The International Spy Museum building


It was raining when we finally finished touring the Spy Museum and headed out. We ran across the street to the National Portrait Gallery Museum. We were allowed to take pictures in some of the art galleries. I decided not to take a chance and let others enjoy without the sound of the shutter release or having a flash go off.

We ventured up to the 3rd level of the museum and found a wonderful surprise, a huge hall.

National Portrait Gallery - 3rd floor entrance into the Great Hall

National Portrait Gallery Great Hall - view looking south

National Portrait Gallery Great Hall - view looking north

National Portrait Gallery Great Hall- main entrance/exit 3rd level

National Portrait Gallery - stained glass window


I still have some issues working with my 18mm-200mm lens. I've been noticing some distortion in my pictures. What I see as being straight, there's a slight curve. It appears when I take pictures around 18mm.

Camera: Nikon D40
Lens: 18mm-200mm
Flash: None
Media card used: San Disk Extreme III - 4GB

Once More Around Our Yard

It's 70 degrees in my neck of the woods. The snow has melted and long gone. I head outdoors to take another trip around the yard to see anymore signs of Spring.

I won't bore you with more conifer pictures, but I do want to share with you some interesting shots I captured.

Paperbark Maple trunk...shedding its bark

Berries from a deciduous holly


Helleborous blooming

Another Helleborous blooming

Camera: Nikon D40
Lens: 18mm-200mm
Flash: Nikon SB-400
Media card used: San Disk Extreme III - 2GB

After the Snow Fall

DH reminded me that I needed to take some pictures of our conifer garden and basically any shrub that was green. Hint, hint. He is giving a lecture later this summer on Conifers. So, I grabbed my Nikon and headed outside to capture my adventure in our gardens. It was cold outside, only 18 degrees F. Brrrrrr!

I decided to test the camera with the flash attached to see how well the pictures turn out (with snow and sun). Interesting, the details that a flash will bring out.

Here is a nice sign that Spring is right around the corner:
A Witch Hazel in bloom


My favorite shot...I just love the yellow and gold colors of this shrub


Close up of a conifer


Back yard shot with Conifer garden to the right


Another conifer...I like seeing the mounds of snow on the branches


It's so peaceful taking pictures


This picture was taken without flash. Kind of looks ho-hum. Isn't the snow just gorgeous?


As you can see, I don't know the names of all the plants and shrubs in our gardens. A lot of this was planted over 10-15 years ago. Some grow slowly, some have grown enormous.

This was our first big snow fall for our area this year. Some of it has melted when the sun peeked out yesterday afternoon.

Camera: Nikon D40
Lens: 18mm-200mm
Flash: Nikon SB-400
Media card used: San Disk Extreme III - 2GB