Stopping to Smell the Roses

Last week I had the chance to make an early-morning trip over to the Woodland Park Rose Garden for pictures. It had been more than two months since my last outing for pictures and I was itching to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather and vibrant summer blooms. I didn't quite make it to the garden by opening time at 7 a.m., but I was only a few minutes late and the sun was still perfect for photos. Strangely, though, when I arrived at the Rose Garden I realized I wasn't in the mood for roses. Yes, I know. First of all, how could I ever NOT be in the mood for roses? And secondly, what on earth was I doing at a rose garden if I didn't want to take pictures of roses? I can't really answer the first question, but it turns out that this rose garden has a lot more to offer than roses (although roses are definitely still the main attraction). And of course, I couldn't resist the roses completely. Like this rose that looked as if it had been sprinkled with pixie dust:

And this is one of my favorite shots from the set:

But all in all, I only took a few rose pictures and instead focused mostly on the other interesting plants that were in bloom throughout the garden. I even tried my hand at some distinctly non-flower pictures. I know. What was I thinking? But I like how they turned out. Like this one where the water seems to be dancing in the sunlight:

And this "self-portrait" in black and white:

I also tried photographing the lily pond from water level, holding my camera so close to the water that my fingers kept get wet as I was trying to set up the shot. The focus didn't turn out exactly as I wanted, but it's still a cool shot. And considering that I had to shoot it blind, I think it came out pretty well. What do you think?

All in all, I had an enjoyable trip to the Rose Garden despite the fact that I wasn't in the mood for roses. The heavy dew and water droplets from the sprinklers made for lots of fun pictures, even if I did end up with very wet shoes and pant legs by the time I left. You can see my favorite pictures from this trip here (as always, the slideshow option will be in the upper right sidebar). Happy Summer, my friends!