Orchid Show NYC-2010- Part Two

Orchid Show NYC-2010
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Here are a couple of more shots from the Orchid Show. These were both shot with my Nikon P6000 compact camera. I have really begun to rely on it for any wide-angle shots and super close ups. Yesterday for ‘big’ cameras all I had was the D700 and the 60mm lens. The Sigma 24mm lens is just too big to tote around for one or two shots so the P6000’s 28-112mm equivalent lens has to take care of the wide end. There are other converter lens you can get for the camera but to me the quality is usually sub-par. Plus the fact that you end up futzing around with the add-on lenses instead of shooting pictures.

The first picture is a replica of one of the towers from the Castle of the Royal Force in old Havana that has the bronze statue La Giraldilla atop of it. Here is a link to a brief summary of the Castle and the statue (see the third paragraph) destination 360.com. It really added a touch of realness to the show and it was fun to see in the water garden that welcomes visitors to the Conservatory at the NYBG.

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The second photo is a small hut that was festively adorned with a lot of Orchid flowers. It was nice since you could actually go inside and look out. Karen took a picture of me inside (which thankfully will not be appearing on this site) and she was happy since I looked good-humored inside there. My illness has been harder on her in some ways than me. She is the one that had to find me and that has left a bit of a haunting picture for her. This little house did kind of look like something you might find on a farm in Cuba or even some parts of the United States. It again added a lot to show and it would make a great potting/tool storage shed!

Cuba in Flower: The 2010 New York Orchid Show

Cuba in Flower: The 2010 New York Orchid Show
Degarmoara Flying High 'Stars 'N Bars'
Degarmoara (day garmo-ara)
(Mtssa. Jet Setter) x (Odm. McNabianum)
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Today was a special day for me. We attended the 2010 New York Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. It was my first adventure ‘outside’ of my small local area and at first I didn’t feel up to it but once I saw the flowers I knew it was the ‘right’ thing to do. This year’s theme of the show is “Cuba in Flower” and all though I have never visited the Island it did have a very Caribbean feel to it. It was lush and full of flowers. There were these giant Orchid arbors this show and they were just spectacular. Even though my mind said that they were probably impossible in nature the flower displays had a very natural look to them.

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The 2010 show had more and different kinds of Orchids than year’s past (I have attended the show the last few years) although remembering from year to year can be a little difficult. I have to give the show two big thumbs up. It was imaginatively thought out and well executed. Definitely a bit of cure for those extra long and dark winter blues.

There were a few flowers out and about in the outside garden including Dawn Viburnum, Witch Hazels, Adonis and that was indeed a happy sight to see. It is suppose to warm up here over the next week and that will certainly help with our early bloomers.

More from the Orchid Show

More from the Orchid Show

These shots are from the Orchid Show at The NYBG in March. I just found the memory card they were on. Originally I took a couple of pictures off the card and made a Black and White Orchid post and then lost track of the card. I have been going through some other downloads to make more room on my hard drive. Usually I would sort through the pictures before I put them on the computer but sometimes in the interest of time and having a clean card to go shooting with everything gets downloaded. Those include pictures with exposure, focus and subject matter problems. Sometimes they are photos that I think I will have a use for later but never end up looking at them again.


So some spring cleaning of my drives is in order, summer cleaning actually. I have already thrown out a couple of CDs worth of photos and there are more to go. In between playing with the puppy, work paperwork and everything else going on around here I am rummaging through the old files.

In order to add a little color to this post here is a fern and palm combination and a shot of the Orchid House that was used to display many of the small types of Orchids.

2008 NYBG Orchid Show

Asian Corsage Orchid
Cymbidium Via Lady Carisona ‘Chateau Burgundy’
(sim-BID-ee-um)

2008 NYBG Orchid Show
New York Botanical Garden
Bronx, NY

On Sunday I attended the 2008 New York Orchid Show. It was wonderful and although I didn’t do as well photographically as I would have liked I did manage a few good pictures. I got my ticket on-line and since I am member of the garden they were free. I printed it out and used one of my parking passes so basically it was free. I am not sure how much tickets cost but the parking is $12.

Another Asian Corsage Orchid (Cymbidium 'Milk Tea')

Now I have gone to this show for the last three years and each year it gets better. This year there were these fabulous arbors with Orchids tucked all the way up the sides and across the top. This year the show was a little more artistic and set up more in total rather than just a bunch of flowers displayed. I don’t know if that makes sense to everyone. The plants were all in good condition with literally thousands of flowers of all types in full bloom.

Not my finest hour with the camera but I did want you to see one of the Orchid Arbors.

When you get your ticket you have to sign up for a specific time to enter the conservatory. I chose 10:30 (it opens at 10 am) and it was a little crowded already. By the time I left two hours later it was really crowded. I was still able to get near the flowers I wanted to photograph and for being that crowded it was tolerable. I think I may try and sneak back to the show during the week, I am sure it will be less crowded.

I wanted to add that the New York Orchid Show is a little different than the several other large Orchid Shows I have been to. There is no judging of the flowers and no vendors. I like both styles of shows however for photography I think the New York style show is better since it is not located in a dark cavernous hall but a brightly lit greenhouse.

Last week I was awarded this big ‘E’ from Katarina i Kullavik at
Roses and Stuff a garden blog from Sweden. I find the Nordic countries extremely interesting and beautiful. There are quite of few blogs that I enjoy from that area. I always thought they had a really harsh gardening season but I think the opposite is true; in many ways their season is ahead of Connecticut. So thanks Katarina for giving me the award I am both honored and humbled by it.