Atlanta Botanical Gardens

Ruth and Eric have been gone these past few days. They went to the snow to have fun. I'm home alone, nuking old dinners and doing laundry. Poor me.

So after work I decided to check out the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. They've got some awesome orchids. I went with another photographer who grows orchids and knows their origins and scientific names. He visits so often he has a membership.

John took me through the hot houses. The temperature in Atlanta tonight is in the 30s but once I walked into the conservatory I felt as though I deplaned in Hawaii. The fragrance in the Tropical Rotunda is absolutely hypnotizing. I hear cars and trains outside, noises of the city, but when I close the door behind me and immerse myself into this orchid world, nothing else matters. I've entered paradise.

Everywhere I look I see orchids in ever color, purple, orange, red, peach, and multi-colored. Some are large and spindly, others are small and trumpet shaped. What an amazing variety.

I set up to take some pictures. What's cool about the new digital is, I immediately see what my picture looks like. I can even use the "loupe tool" built into the camera for zooming in on key areas to ensure sharpness. Very cool. I didn't even have to pack film! Nor did I even worry about how many pictures I'm taking. Looking down at the controls tells me I have 373 more images available on the 512 memory card.

Just for fun I snapped on my manual focus macro lens for a close up. It worked fine. After selling all my prime lenses, my bag has gotten much lighter too. The only snag I can see with this digital stuff is battery power. If I run out of battery, I'm sunk. Touring without a camera is like swimming with baggy clothes on. It's possible but extremely difficult.

...dave
"I hate cameras. They are so much more sure than I am about everything." -John Steinbeck quotes