We spent a weekend in north Georgia recently to capture some of the fall foliage, and I tucked my macro lens into my bag, looking forward to the opportunity to photograph some flowers as well.  The fall blooms at Callaway Gardens are always fun to shoot.  The gardens have large spectacular displays of mums, and the camellias are also in bloom.  It’s strange to see the leaves falling off the trees at the same time as the delicate pink and white camellias come out.  It’s like the camellias are nature’s hint of spring as winter sets in…

Last year’s visit to the Sibley Horticultural Center gave me great opportunities with chrysanthemums.  One of my favorites was a bright red mum covered with dew, featured in my Flowers portfolio page.  This year yielded similar opportunities.  I walked into the center and immediately yelped, “Rich! look at that!”  The displays of bright yellow mums mixed in with pale purple mums were very impressive.    Rich proceeded to stand patiently while I took dozens of pictures.  What a nice hubby!

The bright pink mums were fun too.  But I think I like last year’s pictures better.  It’s hard to improve on images that you really really like!

I did some Photoshop filters with this last camellia image.  I loved the delicate white tints and the yellow center.  I experimented with some of the techniques in Denise Ippolito’s Guide to Creative Filters and Effects.  I think I like it…maybe? :)

With the gray skies and windy cold fronts forecast for this weekend, it might be a good time to stay inside with your macro lens and a pretty flower or two!