The Huntington Gardens

While I primarily snap pictures of people, I have long had a passion for capturing images of flowers, trees, and other plants. About a month back, I took the afternoon and traveled to Huntington Gardens in Pasadena to see what the winter had to offer in terms of bloom. As I expected, the incredible gardens didn't let me down. Separated into sections based on the natural topography of the plant life, The Gardens offer a wide array of gorgeous foliage.


Unfortunately, I waited until pretty late in the day to go. I only had about an hour and a half until closing time and found myself in a hurry to cover the park as fast as possible. In some ways - much like wedding photography - this turned out to be a good thing. It forced me to make choices and react to existing light. However, it didn't offer me the widest opportunity to access various levels of light.


Early in the day, I found myself shooting a lot of greenery. I spent a bit of time in the rose garden, Japanese Garden, and tropical section near the water banks of their small pond. At the pond, I was able to grab the shot above - a backlit image of a Bird of Paradise against the water. With the sun nearing its last moments in the sky, I used the light to pick up the orange in the flower and give me a small reflective element off the water itself.


As the sun began to set, I found myself in the desert section. I actually spent much more time here than expected. Since LA is basically a desert, the conditions are perfect for the plants. Some of the cactus groves were stunning - one of which I captured above. I'm not certain what type of cactus this is, but its' got a gorgeous green / purple / white combination of colors.