Palette of Poppies

This past weekend I attended a graduation party of one of the high school seniors I photographed and while I was on the way, I stopped at the Chicago Botanical Gardens. I'm embarrassed to say that I had never been there before (PLEASE don't spread that around!).

Well, I now have some dates plugged into next year's schedule to get down there for the 7:00 a.m. opening because it's a place that's NOT TO BE MISSED. (There, I yelled at myself for not going there sooner!)

While it was a cool, windy day, the gardens were alive with all kinds of color, but the poppies took the show. They were in full bloom and everyone was standing around enjoying this palette of color. Cameras were clicking with parents photographing their kids and admirers trying to capture the beauty of the color, so I had to add my two cents.

Since is was 1:00 p.m. and bright daylight, I decided to make a multiple exposure to blend all that color together. Some experimentation with a few exposures and I started to feel the emotion behind the process. Then I got the high sign from my fellow party goers that it was time to hit the road.

It felt great to try something I don't usually do, just for the heck of it. A little "what if" is always good for any photo shoot because it teaches me to take chances, experiment, fail and then eventually succeed.