When you enter the gates of the San Francisco Botanical Garden you exit the urban turbulence of the city. It’s acres of quiet paths, manicured lawns and gardens with over 9000 different plants from around the world. It’s Eden in the city; Eden that is without a naked couple discussing the pros and cons of eating apples. It is San Francisco though so there’s a better than even chance that you might run across a naked couple.
This edition of Friday Fotos focuses on the San Francisco Botanical Gardens with a green theme.
With a few exceptions most of the photos in this post were taken in a section called the Ancient Plant Garden that features plant species which date back millions of years. This particular garden features ferns, broad leafed plants and a full range of the shades of green.
Many of the plants had holes in their bright green leaves providing the opportunity to have some photo fun.
A canopy of trees and blue sky through a “porthole” in a leaf
The blurred patchy clouds in a blue sky peek through the deep green of focused leaves
I’ve always labored under the notion that a proper photo needs to be in focus, at least most of the photo. That’s until I started photographing flowers and plants and I realized that sometimes some blur adds to the appeal. In the photo above I shot through the hole in a leaf at the thorns on a branch. Looking at the image on my computer I wasn’t happy with the results until I accidentally zoomed in and liked what I saw. As a result I cropped the original well down so that the small section of branch and thorns with that small spot of light could become the focal point
Below some color editing of the original (above). It’s monochrome – but still green-ish.
I often find the image of plants growing out of a crack in a stone wall to be appealing.
Fabulous photos and such vivid colours!
Thank you Sheree. Thank you so much for visiting my site.
Pleasure!
A very artistic approach to photography of vegetation. I welcome the green since our backyard here in Vermont is white this morning.
Thank you. I can’t imagine that it’s the first time that someone’s shot photos through the leaves of plants. These days it’s hard to come up with something truly original. I did something similar last spring with a cactus that’s sitting in our front yard.
I’ll bet that Vermont in the winter is beautiful. Unfortunately I don’t do well with cold. It hits the 40s in the Bay Area and I start longing for summer.
Some beautiful pics, warms the heart.
Thank you so much for the kind words.
Very cool foto-play, Paulie. The thorns both protect and exclude. All the more interesting if these are ancient species.
Thank you Eliza. I’m kicking myself for not having jotted down the species that I was shooting. I had it in mind to do so but…. I’m planning on going back soon to see what the new season at the botanical garden has in store.
Amazing photos
Grazie molto Luisa.
💐
Nice theme and implementation of it. The “greenish” photo really works for me.
Thank you David. Thank you also for visiting.
Love how you see green via your lens. So beautiful!
Thank you so much Amy.
Thanks for the follow 🙂
You are quite welcome. Thank you for visiting my site!
I visited botanical gardens during my trip to Tuscon, Arizona. Seeing all the plant life opens one’s eyes to the difference in each one.