Summer time is flower season and Maryland offers some beautiful fields of flowers that people travel from surrounding states to visit. The Lotus flowers at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens are truly spectacular and is an Eden in a large public-housing neighborhood.

I was looking forward to my early morning visit there in spite of June being exceptionally hot and humid. This week is no exception with quite a heat-wave making the mornings steamy like a sauna.

Floral photography is something that is quite personal as each person looks at flowers in a different way. Some want to have everything tack-sharp using methods like high f-stops and/or focus-stacking. Others like to have a soft and gentle look choosing low f-stops or using a Lensbaby art lens. Compositions can range from showing the full field to a mid-range image with one centered with others in the background. Then getting even closer to fill the frame with one flower or going one step further and creating an abstract.

In last year’s visit I made an effort to create images soft and ethereal and even abstract. So I decided that this year I’d try something new and look at them from a little wider perspective and a bit more depth of field.

Still using some of my creative techniques, surprisingly the lens I liked using the most was the Canon 100-400mm. Paired with the Canon 5D Mark IV, I tried an in-camera multiple exposure with one image in focus, the next one slightly blurred.

With the excessive heat I didn’t last very long as my tick-borne illnesses has raised their ugly head recently and I’ve been running on empty. But I was pleased with what I came home with from my visit. I’m looking forward to returning on Saturday morning with my photography class and sharing some of these concepts with others.