Sunday, July 11, 2010

The Secret Garden

I live a few minutes away from a beautiful oasis called Thanksgiving Point.  It is 350 acres of museums, golf course, shops, children's discovery park, and my favorite, 55 acres of beautiful themed gardens.  Often I go for an early morning walk through these beautiful gardens.  I'm there with the gardeners before the gardens are officially open.  I smell the freshly cut grass, I hear the birds sing, I say hello to the bunny rabbits who scamper across my path.   I cross beautiful streams and amazing waterfalls and observe a friendly owl who has made his home on a rock ledge.  There is a beautiful rose garden, Roman pillars, fountains, even a flower covered carousel.  I am bombarded with flower eye candy and a thousand fragrances.  I often end my walk in a smaller, walled 'Secret Garden'.  I sit by a fountain and listen to the peaceful sounds and look at the beauty of the place.  Beautiful summer gardens are God's way of reassuring me that He is near, He is in control, and all is well!  I hope you have a delightful Sunday filled with rest, renewal and worship!  (Following are a few pictures from yesterday's early morning visit.)

This is the view from where I was sitting.  I sat back and took several shots, hand held.  I practiced changing the aperture so some of my shots showed everything in focus and some with the background out of focus.  I prefer the out of focus background which made this lovely place look soft and peaceful, a bit drowsy and a bit mysterious.  This is how I felt at the moment.

Simple flowers glowing from behind with morning light.

I was sitting under a huge arch covered with honeysuckle and the bees and bumblebees were buzzing busily with their morning work.  (This is my first real photo with my new macro lens.  And I found out that taking a hand held picture of a quickly moving bee was not easy.  I ended up with about 2 shots in focus out of about 35 attempts!!)

13 comments:

Teté M. Jorge said...

UAU! Fotos magníficas! Lindas! Esplêndidas!

Beijos.

Ginny Hartzler said...

Beautiful, stunning pictures! We have a place like this that is over 60 acres. But it's an hour and a half away and the hours aren't too good, I've been trying to go. I just took a bunch more bee pics, but this beats anything I've seen, GOSH!! I want to see lots more pictures of this place, all the things you talk about!! Do you have any shots of the owl?

janc@mac.com said...

I love that secret garden best of all also, though I've only been there a handful of times. The shot of the bee is magnificent -- worth all those multiple attempts.

Bill S. said...

Fantastic pictures.

Dawning Inspiration said...

Your first image looks like it has a Thanksgiving basket in the background. It's gorgeous. I love the DOF. Your bee shot is fabulous.... worth every single 35 attempt!! :O)

diane b said...

Lovely shots and text. I'm glad to hear that it takes good photographers a lot of shots to get one right too. The bee is fantastic.

Thoughtfully Blended Hearts said...

Wonderful shots but I love that bee shot...it is awesome!!! Now I want a macro lens too!!!

Thoughtfully Blended Hearts said...

An awesome bee shot!!!

Stephani Cochran said...

OK so now I want a macro lens! Beautiful shots!

Unknown said...

It sure didn't take you long to get used to that macro lens! Great job on the bee, by the way. That's my favorite shot.

ruma said...

The scene is really beautiful.

Your photography is splendid.

Thank you for showing a wonderful moment...

From the Far East.
Greetings.
ruma

Scott Law said...

We keep talking about getting to Thanksgiving Point, but for us it is an hour drive each way. These are some beautiful shots, and I REALLY love that bee. AWESOME detail. I can't tell you how many billions of pixels I've wasted trying to get one that good and in focus.

Chad said...

That is one great macro shot. I've been wanting to get back down to Thanksgiving Point. There is a great shot at every turn. Your pictures have made me determined to make my visit in the next few weeks. As always,three great pictures.