I was asked to be a sponsor and official photographer for Rochester’s 2010 Pond and Garden Tour. The tour featured several gardens, rain gardens, and ponds mainly at residences throughout Rochester. It was an interesting day of driving and shooting. The sites ranged from very elaborate to simple but inspiring. There was a reception at Rochester Community and Technical College the evening before the tour for the sponsors and hosts.
There is a beautiful garden on the south side of the Heinz Center which includes the pond and gazebo above. Some delicious food and wine were served. I was shooting so trying to limit my wine intake! My friend, Deb Thompson, was one of the organizers and my connection to the tour. She had a busy day ahead of her.
This waterfall was at one of the first sites I visited. The water cascades down the sloping yard along side the house, ending in a small pond. I did some fairly long exposures at some of the locations to capture the water’s motion. Although I had a tripod in the car, I elected to stick with hand-held throughout the day. Mostly that worked. A tripod is always better, or at least safer. But it adds legs, so to speak, that slows you down and makes you less agile. Trade-offs.
One interesting site was essentially surrounding a city-owned parking lot. It was built to show how run-off can be controlled. It sure adds interest to an otherwise stark environment. And the butterflies (or is it a moth?) find something they like, too. You can make out a white parking lot line in the background of this shot. When I happened upon this critter, it struck me as symbolic of what this rain garden, and maybe the tour in general, is all about. I’m happy it cooperated and struck a nice pose.
This shot was taken at one of the more elaborate gardens on the tour. A large (40 foot) waterfall in back and a spring-fed fountain in front of the house. All quite beautiful.
This rather small and quaint garden with its little waterfall was actually one of my favorites because of the story behind it. It was constructed as a sanctuary during the wife’s battle with cancer. The calming sound of the waterfall was said to be heard even inside the home with closed windows. Unfortunately, cancer won this battle, but the garden remains living on. A stone is etched with an inscription that touched my heart.
Life can be cruel, and cancer takes many folks much too soon.
I found this fellow at a site which was out from the city. The featured pond was near him and used a man-made bog to help maintain the pond. It was one of the few with fish (at least, that I noticed). Nearby were other fountains and another much older pond.
A sign greets visitors to this labyrinth garden inviting them to take a worry pebble and carry it to the center of the labyrinth, where it and the worry it represents may be deposited. The thyme-lined trail was best traversed barefoot. It’s a pretty design, with many native flowers. Apparently, milkweed is among them and Monarch butterflies are a feature later in the summer.
Two of the sites were open late in the evening to enable visitors to see how lighting may be used to enhance the ambiance. This was the first I one I visited, and it had a nice waterfall into a creek running from the back of the house to a small pond in the front. I like the walking stones and the very natural look. In general, the ponds and waterfalls were all nicely done.
This was my final stop on the tour. Several of the sites had speakers to discuss various features, and here the visitors learned about lighting and the use of solar-powered lights. Lighting is melded into the landscape and water in a way that makes it blend in with the rocks and water and plants. Taking a shot like this is a similar balancing act. We want enough light to see the setting, but not enough to blast away the lighting design. Although the sky seems to show quite a bit of light, it was actually becoming fairly dark. A little bit of bounced flash along with fairly high ISO (thank you 5D MkII) and a touch of post-processing gave me the balance I wanted.
This sort of challenge is why I love photography.
