Craftsmen’s Classic Art & Craft Show – Richmond VA – March 12 – 14

I will be at the at the Craftsmen’s Classic Art & Crafts Show at the Richmond Raceway Complex  in Richmond, Virginia this weekend. I will have several new flower photos since I was last in Richmond. Three photos – Catesby’s Trillium II, Pink and White Azaleas and Caleb Hibiscus will be available for the first time this weekend in Richmond.  You can see my most recent flower photographs on my BeautifulFlowerPictures.com website.

I’m offering a special offer this weekend – available only at the Craftsmen’s Classic in Richmond.  For each $50 of photography you purchase from me, take $10 off your total purchase. So you can take $ 10 off a purchase of $ 50 or more, $20 off a purchase of $ 100 or more, etc. This offer cannot be combined with any other special offers.

Show hours are Friday March 12 10 am – 8 pm, Saturday March 13 10 am – 6 pm and Sunday March 14  11 am – 5 pm. I’ll be in booth 3510 this weekend.

Directions to the Raceway Complex,  discount admission coupons and additional information is available on the show website.

I hope to see you in Richmond, VA this weekend.

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Japanese Maple Trees at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens

After setting up my booth at a recent show in Richmond, Virginia, I spent a couple of hours photographing at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. On previous trips to Richmond, I’d seen signs for the gardens but had never had a chance to stop by. I had a great time – this may have been my first visit – it definately won’t be my last.

As I started walking the paths in the gardens, I spotted a beautiful Japanese Maple tree along the shore of one of the ponds. Even with the wind and gray skies, there was a peaceful reflection of the tree in the water. I really liked the contrast of the red leaves of the Japanese Maple against the yellow and green trees in the background.

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

As I looked around, I noticed several other Japanese Maple trees in the area. The leaves on each were a different shape and color. Here are some of the leaves I photographed that afternoon.

Acerpalmatum Dissectum Cv

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

Acerpalmatum dissectum Atropurpureum

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

Acerpalmatum Watnong

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

Acerpalmatum Iijima Sunago

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

This is just a few of the Japanese Maple trees at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. Not sure when I’m going to get back to Richmond – but I’m sure I’ll spend some time there next spring (to say nothing of summer and fall )

More Flowers from Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria

In addition to the surprise lilies and the pineapple lilies I photographed on my August visit to Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria, Virginia, I found a few other flowers to photograph before the rain started.

I was surprised to see hydrangeas still in bloom since it was August and most of the ones in the Bethesda area were pretty much done blooming. The limelight hydrangeas were in full bloom, with blossoms in colors varying from white to a very pale green.

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

As I was getting ready to leave (it was starting to rain) I spotted a patch of Zowie Zinnias which are incredibly colorful and fun to photograph. A bee was going from one flower to the next exploring. I had to stop and take a few photos.

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

Green Spring Gardens is open from dawn to dusk seven days a week. There is no fee charged for visiting the gardens. I had no problems photographing with tripod at Green Spring Gardens.

Lilies at Green Spring Gardens

After seeing so many of Cindy Dyer’s spectacular photographs of flowers taken at Green Spring Gardens, I headed over there one August morning. Green Spring Gardens is a public garden in Alexandria, Virginia run by the Fairfax County Park Authority.

What I discovered was a wonderful set of gardens – with organized flower beds, plants tucked under trees, trails through the woods with wildflowers identified and so much more. Clearly Green Spring Gardens is going to be a place I return to on a pretty regular basis.

Some of the most spectacular flowers I photographed that morning were a couple types of lilies that I had never seen before.

The first was a lily that grows on a stalk, without very many surrounding leaves. There are several flowers at the top of each stalk. The blossoms can be found in various shades of pinks and purples.

I finally found a sign telling me what type of flower they were – Lycoris Squamigera. The common names for these flowers are surprise lily, magic lily or resurrection lily.

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

Since photographing the surprise lilies at Green Spring Gardens – I’ve seen them growing in several gardens in my neighborhood.

The second type of lily I discovered at Green Spring Gardens was a variety of the pineapple lily. The column of petite flowers was like nothing I’d ever seen before. I had no idea what it was – fortunately a few of my online friends were able to identify it for me.

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

I also photographed a few other flowers at Green Spring Gardens – I’ll post them to the blog in another post soon.

Green Spring Gardens is open from dawn to dusk seven days a week. There is no fee charged for visiting the gardens. I had no problems photographing with tripod at Green Spring Gardens.

Photowalk in Old Town Alexandria – Part III

Here are Bill’s photos from last Saturday’s Photowalk in Alexandria VA. The Old Town Alexandria Photowalk led by Jeff Revell was part of the Worldwide Photowalk that took place on August 23.

Of the 50 photographers on the morning photowalk – Bill may have been the only one who wasn’t using a digital camera. He brought his Graflex RB Super D 3″X4″ camera. Since there was a fairly short timeline for getting the photos posted to the Flickr group – Bill decided to use instant film this time. For his black and white photos, Bill used Polaroid ISO 100 Black and White Film. For the color photos, Bill used Fuji ISO 100 Instant film.

One of the boats along the docks in Alexandria.

(c) 2008 William Lawrence

Two of the buildings we passed on the Photowalk

(c) 2008 William Lawrence

(c) 2008 William Lawrence

Some of the flowers we saw

(c) 2008 William Lawrence

(c) 2008 William Lawrence

One of the shop owners in Alexandria

(c) 2008 William Lawrence

And finally some of the produce at the Farmers’ Market

(c) 2008 William Lawrence

Bill and I had a great time on the last week’s photowalk. Many photographers have posted their photos from the walk on the Flickr Group. Shawn Duffy and Mark Anderson have also posted some of their photos on their blogs. On Thursday morning, Jeff Revell announced that one of Mark’s photos was the winner of the contest for best photo from the morning walk. Congratulations Mark!

The next photowalk in the DC area will be on September 14 in Gettysburg. Andy Smith from Visual Realia is organizing the Sept 14 event. Bill and I are planning on being there and hope to see lots of other photographers on the 14th as well.

Photowalk in Old Town Alexandria – Part II

Here is the second set of photos from the Photowalk in Old Town Alexandria that Bill and I participated in last Saturday. If you missed the first set of photos, I posted them to our blog on Monday. The Old Town Alexandria Photowalk led by Jeff Revell was part of the Worldwide Photowalk that took place on August 23.

In addition to being a great way to meet other photographers, the photowalks give me a chance to do a different type of photography. Recently, I’ve been photographing mainly landscapes and flowers. I usually use either my 24-105 mm lens or my 100 mm macro lens. I use a tripod at least 90% of the time. My favorite times and places to photograph are when and where there are few if any people around.

On the Photowalk, I was part of a group of 50 photographers walking around a city. I only used one lens this time – my 70-200 mm lens. I’m still learning to use this lens handheld – usually I put it on a tripod for stability. I was really able to relax while I was shooting – I wasn’t worried about getting the perfect exposure or composition. I just focused on getting more comfortable with my lens – and having fun!

About two-thirds of the way through the photowalk – someone remembered that the Old Town Alexandria farmers’ market was on our route. We hurried over for the chance to photograph all the great produce, flowers and art that is sold at the market. Here are several photos I took at the farmers’ market.

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

Many of the other photographers on the Photowalk have posted their photos from the farmers’ market to the Photowalk Flickr group. Cindy Dyer has some wonderful photos from the farmers’ market on her blog.

As we were finishing up at the farmers’ market – we heard the sound of bagpipes coming up the street and heard that there were people in 19th century costumes in a nearby park. We headed over to Carlyle House where a reenactment of the August 1814 occupation of Alexandria was taken place. On August 29, 1814, during the War of 1812, Alexandria had surrendered to the British Navy. Here are a few of the reenactors in their War of 1812 costumes.

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

We’ll be posting Bill’s photos from the Alexandria Photowalk later in the week.

Photowalk in Old Town Alexandria

On Saturday, Bill and I participated in a photowalk in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. It was one of a few hundred photowalks around the world that took place on August 23 as part of the Worldwide Photo Walk. Over 8000 photographers registered for the various walks. Jeff Revell led both the morning and evening photowalks in Alexandria. There were about 50 photographers on the morning walk – and Jeff was expecting an equal number for the evening photowalk.

Photowalks are great fun. How they work is that someone announces that they are holding a photowalk at a certain date and location. They decide on a walking route (usually a couple of miles – with the ending point near the starting point) and figure out where the photographers can get something to eat at the end. Photowalks usually last a couple of hours – ending with a meal where all the photographers check out and share the photos they’ve taken. The organizer also sets up a Flickr group where people who attended the Photowalk can share their photos. What participants do is walk, talk and take lots of photos.

One aspect Bill and I really enjoy about the photowalks is the opportunity to meet other photographers in the area. There are some fantastic photographers in the DC area – and we’ve had a chance to meet several of them on the photowalks. Many of the local photobloggers participate in the photowalks. On Saturday – we finally met Shawn Duffy, Mark Anderson and Cindy Dyer in person. I’ve been reading their blogs for months – so it was nice to finally have a face to put with their names and photos. Cindy already has her photos from the Photowalk posted on her blog – Mark has posted some of his on Flickr. It’s always neat to see what caught other photographers eye as they followed the same walking route that we did.

Here are the first set of my photos from the Photowalk. I’ll be posting more photos from both Bill and I later in the week.

The Old Town Alexandria Photowalk started at Founders Park. We walked along the Potomac River, up through town, spent some time at the Farmer’s market and then ended up at the Torpedo Factory for lunch.

As Jeff Revell was doing the introductory briefing on Saturday morning, his phone rang. It was Scott Kelby – author of the Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers and organizer of the Worldwide Photowalk.

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

We started walking along the Potomac River and eventually got to the plaza and dock area behind the Torpedo Factory. The ropes on the guardrails used by the city of Alexandria to keep people from falling into the water caught my eye.

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

This is the Cherry Blossom – one of the boats that gives tours on the Potomac River. I loved the look of the paddle wheel and the wrought iron work on the boat. Several photographers took some great photos of the same boat and have already posted them on the Flickr group for the Photowalk.

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

A couple of subjects that lots of photographers photograph on the Photowalks are cute kids and dogs. In Alexandria – I found two little boys playing with a dog. The three were happy to pose for me.

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

After photographing in the dock area for a while, we headed into town. Objects in store display windows can be really fun to photograph. Here’s a pair of ducks – one wearing a sombrero – I spotted in the bicycle store window.

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

Just down the street from the bike shop, a small patch of sunflowers were growing against a building wall. I think just about every photographer on the photowalk took at least one photo of the sunflowers. Here’s my sunflower photo.

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

When I spotted the headline on the paper – I had to photograph Saturday’s Washington Post in one of the newspaper boxes on the street. There were other things happening in the world besides 8000 photographers going out for walk.

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

I’m not sure what this post is for – but I loved the design. My guess is that its for bicyclists to have a safe place to chain their bikes to.

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

My final photo for today is a cute little bunny decoration in a planter on someone’s front porch.

(c) 2008 Patty Hankins

I’ll post my photos from the farmers’ market and the War of 1812 reenactors on Wednesday, and Bill’s photos on Saturday. Hope you enjoy the photos.

Great Falls on the Potomac River

One of our favorite waterfalls to photograph is Great Falls on the Potomac River. Located about 15 miles from Washington, DC, Great Falls is just a short drive away and every time we visit – the photographic opportunities are different.

Great Falls can be photographed from two National Parks – the Great Falls Park in Virginia and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Park in Maryland. To see the falls from the C&O Canal Park – you need to enter the park at the Great Falls Tavern Area at 11710 MacArthur Blvd in Potomac.

Here are some of our favorite photos of Great Falls.

The first photo is one I took earlier this summer from Virginia. It shows the area above the falls.

Above Great Falls (c) 2008 Patty Hankins

Bill took this photo in late April a couple of years ago a few days after some major spring storms. The water level was very high as the runoff from the storms came down the river from West Virginia.

Great Falls (c) 2005 William Lawrence

A couple of months later, Bill returned to the falls to photograph them with a lower water level. He went out to park early on a Saturday morning to figure out exactly how long after sunrise the sun hit the rocks. The next morning, he photograph this view of Great Falls from the first overlook on the Virginia side of the river.

Great Falls II (c) 2005 William Lawrence

I took this next photo earlier this summer. We’d had some big rain storms so the water was once again rushing over the rocks at the center of the river.

Great Falls Rocks (c) 2008 Patty Hankins

The final photo is one taken from the overlook on Olmstead Island on the Maryland side of the river. It shows the falls with the trees in Virgina ablaze with fall color.

Autumn at Great Falls (c) 2006 Patty Hankins

Bill and I are out at Great Falls pretty regularly – so I’m sure we’ll be posting more photos of the area in the future. Hope you enjoy them.

Crabtree Falls and Moss Glen Falls

A few years ago, Bill and I spent some time in Vermont for my sister’s wedding. While we were there, we took a little time to some photography. Along side of the Route 100 in Granville we photographed Moss Glen Falls. This is a very easy waterfall to photograph – my tripod was on the shoulder of the road for this photo.

Moss Glen Falls (c) 2005 Patty Hankins

We started displaying the Moss Glen Falls photo at shows, and people kept asking us if it was Crabtree Falls. We said no – it’s Moss Glen. We asked someone where Crabtree Falls was – and were told it was along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

With a little searching, we found Crabtree Falls in Nelson County, Virginia – about 6 miles away from the Blue Ridge Parkway on State Route 56. After a short hike on a paved path, we got to the base of falls and took some photos. Absolutely gorgeous waterfall – we just a little confused as to why people thought it looked so much like Moss Glen Falls.

Crabtree Falls, Virginia (c) 2006 Patty Hankins

You can imagine our surprise when we started showing our Crabtree Falls, Virginia photograph when people said this wasn’t Crabtree Falls. One person said – they wanted a photograph of the one in North Carolina. That’s when we discovered that there are two Crabtree Falls off the Blue Ridge Parkway – one in Virginia and the other in North Carolina.

So the next spring, we took a trip down the length of the Blue Ridge Parkway and photographed Crabtree Falls in North Carolina. The trail to the falls starts at the Crabtree Meadows Recreation Area on the Blue Ridge Parkway – about 8 miles south of the NC 226 and the Parkway. The hike to the falls is down a mile long trail – that feels like its 3 or 4 miles long on the way back up!

Crabtree Falls, North Carolina (c) 2007 William Lawrence

We finally understood why people thought Moss Glen Falls and Crabtree Falls look similar!