Whenever I need a brief escape, a little bit of heaven is just a few minutes from home. Rotary Botanical Gardens is the gem of Janesville, an award winning 20 acre paradise of horticultural beauty. For a pittance of an admission fee, and sometimes it's even free, I can wander through breathtaking beauty for hours. There's always something new or different to see every time I go and I always feel relaxed and refreshed afterward. I never get enough of it and I always hate to leave.
I love photographing flowers and you will see lots of flower portraits, many from these gardens, as my blog continues.
Last week, I joined hundreds of other people and visited their Holiday
Light Show that's open on weekend evenings through the latter part of
December. There wasn't any snow on the ground yet but it didn't matter;
the night was windless and pleasantly mild, perfect for photographs.
There were literally dozens of photo opportunities but this one ... I knew as soon as I saw it that it would be ~the~ shot of the evening for me. The vintage lady, who is one of my favorite subjects in the garden, did not disappoint. She is such a lovely quiet spirit; this magical setting is perfect for her. There were no filters used to achieve the star effects on the lights and very little post processing needed. The exposure was perfect as it was. The lady knows exactly how to present herself.
© 2012 Vicki DeGruy, all rights reserved.
Canon 5D Mk III, 24-70mm @ 51mm, ISO 400, f/16, 5 seconds.
For a few more shots from that evening, visit my gallery at
For Rotary Gardens' blog and link to their home page, visit http://rotarygardens.blogspot.com/
