Trip Report

Lotus and Water Lilies at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens - 2015 /  by Todd Henson

Dark pink lotus blossoms just opening

Opening lotus blossom covered in rain drops

It’s that time of year again when lotus and water lilies are in bloom at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in Washington, D.C., when they hold their annual Lotus and Water Lily Festival. The day started with rain, leaving us wondering if it was worth the drive if it was going to be a wash out. But the rain was forecast to clear up so we made the trip and it was well worth it. The rain left water droplets on all the flowers, naturally saturated all the colors, and honestly, kept some of the early morning crowds a little lighter than they might have been otherwise, though the crowds did grow as the rain stopped. It’s fascinating all the different people who show up to view these flowers. One day perhaps I’ll photograph some of the people as well as the blooms.

Bumble bee above dark pink lotus blossom. There are several streaks of rain on the left side.

One thing I noticed this year was some of the ponds contained lotus blossoms that were lighter in color, a very pale pink that almost seemed to glow. The overcast day was perfect for photographing these, no harsh light, no hard shadows. Just an evenly lit glowing lotus blossom. Other ponds held lotus blossoms of a much darker, deeper pink. These had beautiful color, but didn't glow quite like the paler blossoms did. I love the variety.

Bumble bee above a lotus blossom

Small green insect on lotus blossom

Six-Spotted Fishing Spider (Dolomedes Triton)

As with last year I found myself looking for insects to add some extra interest to the photos. This year there were very few dragonflies because of the rain, though they did begin coming out after the rain ended. I did manage to capture a couple bumble bees, as well as several other small insects. The most distinctive insect (arachnid, actually) I photographed was a fishing spider. I believe it was a six-spotted fishing spider (Dolomedes Triton), if I've identified it correctly. I found it on a lily pad. When other folks walked closer it dove into the water and disappeared. Fascinating.

Pink water lily and a small insect

The lotus blossoms draw the largest crowds, but if your timing is good you can also view some of the beautiful water lilies in other ponds. Kenilworth has a nice variety of water lilies. Some are very simple white flowers, in fact, my favorite photo of the day is of a white water lily. Some of the water lilies are similar shades of pink to those of the lotus. And some of the water lilies are amazing shades of purple, though I don't have any photos of those in this post.

White water lily, my favorite image of the day

The photograph, White Water Lily, is available for purchase as wall art or on a variety of products.

We usually arrive early in the morning and continue photographing and walking around until we get comfortably tired. But this means we often don't spend a lot of time around the festival events. This year was no different, but we did see the tail end of a presentation by and about Cindy Dyer, an Alexandria-based photographer who was recently honored by the United States Postal Service by having a series of her photographs used on a set of Forever Stamps. She's a very talented photographer and has produced some beautiful images. She is well deserving of the honor.

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National Gallery of Art - West Building /  by Todd Henson

A statue of Mercury atop a fountain at the center of the West Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Today I’m going to depart a bit from nature and outdoor photography. Earlier this year my brother and I visited the West Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The museum contains such a large number of works of art, I could spend the entire day in that one museum and feel I still hadn’t seen everything. And with so many other museums close by there’s that itch to keep moving, to see more. I don’t get out to museums often enough.

Viewing artwork and a visitor through an entryway. The painting on the left is Saint Benedict Orders Saint Maurus to the Rescue of Saint Placidus by Fra Filippo Lippi. On the right is The Healing of Palladia by Saint Cosmas and Saint Damian by Fra Angelico. In the center is The Adoration of the Magi by Fra Angelico and Fra Filippo Lippi.

Through the archway is a painting by Leonardo de Vinci called Ginevra de' Benci. I love the layout of the museum, how archways become frames into works of art.

I think seeing all this artwork can help inspire creativity. You see how other people have interpreted their world, or expressed their emotions. I’m mostly a photographer, but I love seeing paintings from such a diverse group of painters, so many different styles and subjects. I don’t necessarily enjoy all the paintings, but there’s alway something there to learn from. Seeing how different artists handled light and perspective. A docent showed us one painting where the artist was able to beautifully capture perspective. As you walked along the painting it was almost as if the perspective changed. Fantastic.

A visitor viewing Leonardo da Vinci's Ginevra de' Benci. On the left is Madonna and Child by Sandro Botticelli. On the right is The Adoration of the Child by Filippino Lippi. Again, I love the layout of the museum. I consider that artwork, as well.

The museum is also full of statues and other objects, something I don’t think you can really appreciate except in person. You might be able to view a painting online since a painting is mostly a two dimentional form of art, though there can be some limited three dimensionality with the volume of paint the artist applies to different areas. But with statues you can’t beat seeing them in person. I love photos of statues, and I love making photos of statues. But you really do have to see them to fully appreciate them, the play of light and shadow, the form and texture.

Another example of framing the artwork using the museum archways. Here a visitor studies Saint John of the Cross (San Juan de la Cruz) by Francisco Antonio Gijon. I like how the visitor has his leg out, just as Saint John, and how they both seem to lean in the same direction.

This is another photo of Saint John of the Cross (San Juan de la Cruz) by Francisco Antonio Gijon, but this time without the viewer. Here you can see the entire statue, but I prefer the image with the viewer.

Looking through the photos I made at the museum I realize I’m also drawn to how the museum chooses to display the artwork. There is an art to display. And of course, it’s always fun trying to capture people while they view the artwork. And finally, there is the architecture of the museum, itself. The craftsman that built it were themselves artists.

I love the enormous variety of objects in the museum. Here is the Ciborium for the Sacrament by Desiderio da Settignano.

Winged Victory by Antonio Canova is a magnificent piece beautifully lit such that shadows of the statue float on the wall just behind it. Amazing.

Take some time and visit a museum once in a while. It’s well worth it.

A Morning Stroll By The National Gallery - The West Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. This view is from across Madison Drive.

Fine Art Prints by Todd Henson

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Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens /  by Todd Henson

Ponds full of lotus blossoms at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

My brother and I had the opportunity to visit Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, in Washington, D.C., during the lotus flower blooming season, which occurs during the typically hot and humid days of July. This particular day, though, was unseasonably comfortable. The sky was lightly overcast for most of the morning, providing nice soft light for photographing the lotus and water lilies.

This year I was immediately drawn to dragonflies alighting on the tops of lotus buds, flowers, or stems. I think they make great subjects and they usually sit still long enough to fire off a number of exposures.

Dragonfly on unopened lotus bloom, with seed pod in the background

Dragonfly with lotus blossom in the background

The bumble bees were also a lot of fun to photograph, though they make for far more difficult subjects than dragonflies. The bees don’t sit still for long, and focusing on one while at a wide aperture is challenging. I tried to pre-focus at a spot I thought a bumble bee might fly through, then fired off shots anytime one came close. It was very hit or miss, but great fun.

Bumble bee flowing into center of lotus blossom

The lotus flowers in bloom are the typical subjects this time of year, but I also find the seed pods, left over after the bloom has fallen, to be interesting subjects. One day perhaps I will go back later in the year when the seed pods open to reveal the seeds.

Lotus seed pod with out of focus lotus blossom in background

During July, Kenilworth also hosts a number of water lilies of various colors, including white, pink, and purple. The water lily ponds are often full of distracting elements, but if you work at it you can find some nice compositions. Granted, I did use the spot removal tool to clone out the more distracting floaters around the flowers.

Water lilies

Partially open water lily

I also experimented making a few infrared photos. The gardens have an attractive bridge over a couple of the ponds. One of the park rangers called it their “turtle bridge.” I don’t have an infrared converted camera, so I have to use an infrared filter that blocks out all visible light. This makes for long exposures, in this case about 3 1/2 minutes, causing a lot of blurry motion when the wind is blowing or when people are moving through the shot slow enough. But in this case there was very little wind, and any people that entered the frame moved enough that they didn’t show up in the finished photo. I white balanced on the tree leaves (chlorophyl), increased the saturation to bring out the gold in the cloudy sky and used split toning to add a little brown warmth to the bridge. All the trees, lily pads in the foreground, and lotus flowers in the background glowed in infrared and so were captured in white.

Bridge over ponds, water lilies in the foreground, lotus in the background

If you’ve never been to Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens they are well worth a visit.

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