Polymer clay pendants available at Green Spring Gardens!

Very special thanks to Lisa at Green Spring Gardens for being the very first wholesale customer for my polymer clay creations! She has a sampling of the finished pieces for sale at the gift shop (at the checkout counter) at the Horticultural Center at Green Spring Gardens now! (The larger photo below shows a sampling of the ones available). She’s selling them for just $26.99 each. Each pendant hangs from a vegan leather or vegan suede cord.

The park is located at 4603 Green Spring Rd. in Alexandria, VA. Green Spring Gardens is open Monday-Saturday, 9:30 am – 4:30 pm, and Sunday from 12-4:30 p.m.

This is my absolute favorite place to photograph flowers in the DC/Virginia area and I’ve had two solo botanical photography exhibits there (2012 and 2016). (It’s less than three miles from my home!) The first show resulted in me getting to work with the USPS and is the reason I now have 11 images published as FOREVER stamps—so this place is near and dear to my heart. There is always a huge variety of plants in bloom and I’m so grateful to the horticulturists and volunteers who are the amazing caretakers for this little paradise.

Siberian irises

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

My favorite Siberian iris beds were in full bloom at Green Spring Gardens on Thursday. Got a slew of shots with my Nikon and my iPhone. These are phone shots, for you curious folks.

Daffodils!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Nikon D850 / Nikkor 105mm micro

Featured in Shutterbug online!

Last summer I was contacted by an editor I work with through Nikon and also Shutterbug magazine. He wanted to run a photo and behind-the-shot story of one of my images in the July 2018 issue of the magazine. Then one month before its debut, the print version of the magazine folded (in other words, Shutterbug was shuttered!). This would have been the second time my work would have appeared in the print publication (the first time was when my fern stamps were featured). Last week I got an email asking if they could run it online and I said of course! So here’s the image and the behind-the-shot story. Special thanks to my friend Sherry Goldstein (the woman who pointed this beautiful critter out to me). Click on the link below to go to the post!

https://www.shutterbug.com/content/always-carry-your-camera-how-botanical-photographer-captured-beautiful-butterfly-image?fbclid=IwAR2JI7E7VTu3Ml9d3-QkTFQIHAUEGKwjWKdvMxJiwiCZcvrYjsLzaQMVJ9U

Peony ‘Cora Louise’

This one’s for you, Lisa Russell Jackson! ITOH (intersectional hybrid) Peony ‘Cora Louise’, photographed at Green Spring Gardens this afternoon. Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro, 1/80, f/22, ISO 250

If you visit Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria, VA, check out Lisa’s wonderful gift store. She has my greeting cards available, and one of the newest cards has two of these beautiful blooms on it.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Crab spider on Columbine bloom

Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro, 1/100, f/18, ISO 500

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Crab spider on Columbine bloom

Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro, 1/100, f/18, ISO 500

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Siberian iris

Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro, 1/100, f/9, ISO 250

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

 

Larkspur

Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro, 1/125, f/10, ISO 200

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

 

Bearded iris

Bearded iris (unknown cultivar), photographed at Green Spring Gardens

Nikon D850 / Nikkor 105mm micro

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Japanese Roof iris

Japanese Roof iris, photographed at Green Spring Gardens

Nikon D850 / Nikkor 105mm micro

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Bearded iris ‘Megabucks’

Bearded iris ‘Megabucks’, photographed at Green Spring Gardens (Nikon D850 / Nikkor 105mm micro lens)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Bearded iris

Bearded iris (unknown cultivar), Green Spring Gardens (Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Bearded iris ‘Megabucks’

Photographed at Green Spring Gardens; Nikon D850 with Nikkor 105mm micro lens

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Bearded iris

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Camellia ‘Jerry Hill’

Jerry Hill Camellia (Camellia japonica ‘Jerry Hill’)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Featured in “Snapshots” e-newsletter!

Here’s Part 1 of my article for Snapshots, an e-newsletter published by Fairfax County Park Authority. I believe Part 2 will debut in the next issue. This article offers tips for photographing with a smart phone in the garden. Thanks to editor Carol Ochs for including me in the publication! If you’re local and want to subscribe, click the link below:

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/e-news

Smart Phone Nature Photography Workshop at Green Spring Gardens

Here’s the info on my first smart phone nature photography workshop at Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria, VA (Saturday, May 5, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm). The class will cover smart phones in general (Android and iPhones welcome)!

Smart Phone Nature Photography
(Adults) Learn techniques to improve your smart phone nature photography with the help of professional photographer Cindy Dyer. Get a better understanding of composition, color and lighting and how to use your camera settings to capture what you intend. Practice what you learned with an in-class garden photography shoot, critique and lesson on editing. $52/person. Code 290 232 6001.

Register at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/parktakes or call 703-642-5173.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. iPhone photos / Snapseed app borders

Honey bee on Jerusalem artichoke bloom

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Canna blooms

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Eastern Amberwing dragonfly

Going through my dragonfly photo archives and came across this “high key” photo of an Eastern Amberwing dragonfly (Perithemis tenera) perched on a waterlily bud. Amberwings are one of the smaller dragonflies. The depth of field is shallow on its wings, but I like this shot because the body and head is still sharp. The high key/bright sunlight works in this photo, too. Normally I try to shoot on overcast days or use a diffuser—but you can’t really use a diffuser on moving subjects! This was shot at Green Spring Gardens a couple of years ago.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Violas

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Larkspur blooms

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Poppy

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Urn orchid

Urn orchid (Bletilla striata); also called Hyacinth orchid; photographed at Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria, VA

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Blue wild indigo

Blue wild indigo or Blue false indigo (Baptisia australis), photographed at Green Spring Gardens

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

‘Tropic Night’ Iris sibirica

Iris sibirica ‘Tropic Night’ (Species is native from Europe to Western Asia and Siberia); photographed at Green Spring Gardens

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

‘Cora Louise’ peony

And here’s a giant peony—first time I’ve seen this one at Green Spring. The blooms were the size of salad plates!

UPDATE 5/1/2018: Special thanks to Lisa Jackson (she runs the store at Green Spring Gardens’ Horticultural Center) for the identification on this beautiful peony. It’s an “itoh” (intersectional hybrid) peony named ‘Cora Louise.’

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

 

Cicada on Love-in-a-mist

Ah…finally out and shooting flowers for the first time this season, thanks to the urging of my dear friend Michael Powell on this beautiful Sunday. We went to Green Spring Gardens to shoot and although it was pretty windy for photography, we both still managed to capture some images in between blusters! Here’s a shot I got of a cicada making its way through a cluster of love-in-a-mist blooms.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Last week to see my exhibit at Green Spring Gardens!

Be sure to sign the guestbook to enter your name in the drawing for a free gallery wrap canvas photograph from my exhibit! I’ll have photos from the reception in the next post.