RETURN TO MITCHELL PARK DOMES

After being out of town for a couple of weeks, I found my way back to the Mitchell Park Domes a few days ago.  For all of the shots that I took, I didn't retain many.

As soon as I entered the show dome, which features changing exhibits, I realized that I needed my telephoto lens.  Right in the middle of the dome and distant from any place where I could position my tripod were two large and attractive blossoms.  So I ran back to my car to retrieve my other two lenses and wound up using all three lenses during the session.  Here is a shot of one of the large blossoms.

The background was a little busy, but the flower was gorgeous.  This was shot at an aperture of f/5.

Here is another flower that I wound up shooting from the side in order to eliminate some background distractions that would otherwise have cluttered up the image.  A little odd and not quite as sharp as I would have liked, but I liked the "hairiness" of the stem and curved leaf on the left side.  I was also happy with the backlighting of the petals.

Here is a cactus in the Desert Dome that was in bloom.  I liked the beaded texture of the plant's body and the translucence of the blossom's petals.  I had underexposed the shot and was able to darken the background further in post processing.

Finally, here are a couple of larger leaves that I have photographed before.  

I liked how the leaves, from the same plant, are exhibiting different shades of green.  The bright sun helped to bring out the leaves' textures.  Shot at f/11 to keep the more distant leaf in acceptable focus.

John