With the coronavirus outbreak, many of the places I would go to photograph closed their doors temporarily (at least I hope it is temporary). Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs, Arkansas, was no exception.
Garvan Woodland Gardens is a 210 acre botanical garden containing amazing year-round flower displays. One of the Gardens’ most impressive attractions is the tulip blooms that generally occur during March.
To give you an idea of how incredible it is, I captured the tulips in the photograph a few years ago in late April well after the peak bloom. Using a 70-200mm lens set at 200mm, I was able to fill the frame with these stunning flowers.
I faced two challenges while I photographed these flowers. The first was lighting. Outdoor photography is usually best done under overcast conditions that provide soft, even lighting. Many people think bright, sunny days are ideal for outdoor photography; but, this type of lighting often causes a high degree of contrast which can result in overexposed areas and less than vibrant colors.
I couldn’t do anything about the clear, sunny sky, so I searched for tulips that were shaded from the direct light. After a couple of minutes of walking around the grounds, I finally found a small area of tulips standing in the shade of a large tree.
I set up my tripod so the camera would be just above the top of the tulips. This way there would be some color contrast between the bright yellow blooms and darker green stems.
Once I was set up, I realized I had a second challenge to overcome: the slight breeze that was blowing that day. In order to ensure the fore- and midground tulips were sharp, I used an aperture of f/16. This necessitated a shutter speed of 1/320 of a second given the small aperture and the shade. I was concerned that, while the shutter speed was relatively fast, it might not be fast enough to capture the swaying tulips completely sharp.
My only option was to wait until there was a lull in the breeze. So, I waited, and waited, and waited some more. Finally, the breeze died down for a brief moment, the tulips stopped swaying, and I tripped the shutter.