Kenilworth Aquatic Park Flowers

 On July 21, 2012, Annette and I found the time to go to the Lotus Blossom Festival at the Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens.

It rained off and on during the drive down.  So much so that we wondered if this was going to be a wash out.  But we kept on going.

When we arrived it was lightly sprinkling.  We took our ponchos along just in case.

We arrived at 3:00 pm and it looked like most of the activities for the day had already left.  There were a couple of bands still left on the schedule and they both bravely trooped on, but their audience had all but disappeared.  Oh well, we didn't come for the activities, we came to see the flowers.

At first, I was a little discouraged by the rain.  Nobody likes to get wet when they are facing a two hour car ride home in wet clothes and every photographer wants to protect his gear (electronics and water do not mix!).

But I dutifully followed Annette into the gardens.  It turns out that it was worth the trip, in spite of the rain, or maybe because of the rain!

The wind from the storm had turned some of the more fully opened blossoms almost inside out!

Lotus Blossom feeling the effects of the Rainstorm

The huge bowl-shaped leaves of the Lotus plant caught and retained some of the water from the storm. I wondered how the plants put that water to good use.

I also liked how the shape of the leaf and the shape of the blossom mirror each other.

In the image below, it appears as if the pedals are wrapping themselves defensively around then core of the blossom, protecting it from the effects of the storm.

This new blossom appears to be coyly emerging from behind the leaves.

Besides the Lotus Plants there were many others, such as this blossom on a vine.

I was worried that the monochromatic, gray sky would be a problem, but in this picture,  it reduced the contrast (versus the bright, harsh sun in a nearly cloudless blue sky) such that you can actually see the reflection of the blossom rather than just a black shadow.

The rain also added some interest to this next Lilly pad image.  It is what was making the ripples in the water.

After an hour and a half, the drizzle turned into a shower.  You should have seen Annette!  She had on her poncho with the hood up and her camera, backpack on her back!  She also poked a hole in the poncho so that she could look through the viewfinder with the camera under the poncho.  She is one die hard photographer!

I guess I am not that dedicated to my craft.  I thought that when the rain came, it was a good time to look at the displays inside of the park office building!

Talk to you next time.  Keep on Clicking!