Columbus Botanical Garden

Today is the final day of my four day weekend. At work we had Friday (July 3rd) off as our holiday and I felt I needed to take today off to give myself a nice long weekend as well as two “short” work weeks. I didn’t have any special plans other than to enjoy each day. Well, also to stay cool as we have been reaching into the upper 90’s. The heat doesn’t bother me much but the threat of rain has definitely increased the humidity.

I took this opportunity to visit the botanical garden as soon as it opened on Friday. I had thoughts of getting some interesting images of the La Catrina statues and I wanted to continue my learning with using the Lensbaby Velvet 85mm lens (I still struggle with it). I was able to capture a few of the statues but the early morning light was a challenge.

What I did find was someone basking on a rock near one of the statues. The Lensbaby lens was not an ideal one for capturing his good side but I made the most of the situation. My fear was stopping to switch lenses and my subject running off to their next spot away from us intruders. From what a quick search tells me this is a western fence lizard…

Columbus Botanical Garden

Yesterday was the beginning of La Calavera Catrina at the botanical garden. This is their summer event (although it runs until early November) highlighting the rich history and iconography of La Catrina. The displays are centered around nine eight foot tall sculptures created by artist Ricardo Soltero on loan from the Denver Botanic Gardens.

The evening before the start of the event the garden hosted a members only First Harvest which allowed us to celebrate the summer bounty from their vegetable garden. There was an assortment of vegetable dishes, samples of various tomatoes and some wonderfully delicious sorbet created at the garden. We also were able to get a first look at the sculptures before their debut to the public.

I had high expectations I was going to create a few interesting images of the sculptures as well as capture candid moments of the event, street photography style (this one was a big wish by me). Although the event was amazing; the food, interacting with a few people and viewing the sculptures, I struggled with capturing interesting images. I will at least show you one image so you can see how beautiful the sculptures look.

My initial attempts were with the small 40mm lens. I felt the size of the lens would reduce the attention my camera would gather and allow me to walk practically unnoticed through the garden. I wasn’t feeling it. After sampling the bounty I switched to my 105mm macro lens in an attempt to isolate my subjects. In the end I fell back into my normal habits and searched out a few floral subjects.

Luckily for me, I will have all summer to explore the gardens and La Calavera Catrina. This will allow me to find those images I desperately wanted during my first evening walking among the sculptures. More to come…