Japanese Gardens, Gibbs Gardens, Kentucky Woman Series

Beautiful Gibbs Gardens, located just to the northeast of Atlanta, has to be one of the most architecturally beautiful botanical gardens I have ever seen. The Japanese Gardens, called Tsukiyama, is the largest Japanese garden in the nation encompassing some 40 acres. The ponds in this particular garden are all spring fed. But I think what really makes this garden are the reflections you find at every twist and turn along the garden path. Come take a walk with me . . .

As I meandered around both sides of the ponds that make up the Japanese Gardens, I couldn't help noticing just how meticulous every morsel of plant and stone and tree was planned and designed to create this breathtaking landscape. Mr. Gibbs my hat goes off to you. Yet, on the afternoon I visited with ample sunlight in tow, I couldn't help but realize one of the reasons for all the planning.

Can you see it, the reflections on the water are simply gorgeous. As I approached one setting after another, it wasn't enough to capture a portrait view, I had to capture a landscape too. Who knew what I would like more when I found myself miles away back home carefully sifting through the images.

Without a doubt, I recall spending an hour or more capturing photographs of the various settings as I walked the many paths and crossed over the ponds and walked around each one. It was an explosion to my senses.

As if the reflections on the water were not enough, I happened upon this scene with a Weeping Willow tree situated next to the largest pond. The foliage around the tree and the huge boulders sitting next to the water's edge was just gorgeous. Oh, how I love Weeping Willows.

Right when you think you can't take in another thing, you happen upon a Japanese lantern sitting idly on top of a large boulder with gorgeous twisted tree branches in the background.

Did you notice how the foreground is a treat to your eyes, but the background is so beautiful of the foliage across the pond on the other side. Tell me someone didn't spend hours planning this. What a genius!

Just to be absolutely certain I didn't miss a thing, I captured a landscape view of this setting.

I wanted to end this post right back where we began. Look at this gorgeous plant with those beautiful sculptures of Swans sitting atop it right in the middle of the largest pond in the Japanese Gardens. The Weeping Willows, the pagodas, the lanterns, the sculpture, oh my goodness, have you ever.

Now I ask you, have you ever seen such a gorgeous garden in your life. This was my first visit to a Japanese Garden, and it won't be my last. I can't even imagine what Gibbs must look like in early Spring and Fall. If you ever find yourself in Atlanta, take a quick drive up to Gibbs. It's virtually in the middle of nowhere in a tiny town called Ball Ground, just south of the north Georgia mountains. You could stay in one of the 'boros northeast of Atlanta and its a quick drive up. I hope you have enjoyed this installment of my Kentucky Woman Series. I simply had the most fun creating it for you. It was as though I had stepped back into the garden for a walk. 
Have a fabulous weekend. ENJOY MY FRIENDS!

Linking to Saturday's Critters and The Scoop

Waterlily Garden at Gibbs, Kentucky Woman Series

As promised here is the next installment in my Kentucky Woman Series. Wondering just what the Kentucky Woman Series means.

Having lived in Tennessee for three years, I decided to pay homage to my home state of Kentucky.

So I am bringing you a series of posts featuring a particular subject in various images from this Kentucky woman.

Today's post hails from beautiful Gibbs Gardens which is situated about an hour northeast of Atlanta in northern Georgia. 

I have to say, this botanical garden is one of the most beautiful gardens I have ever visited.

I traveled to Gibbs Gardens on a hot Summer's day in mid August. The temperatures hovered in the middle 80's, however, the humidity was low on this particular day. Did I mention I watched and waited for a sunny, but less humid span of a couple of days to make the drive to Georgia to view the gardens.

It was as good a day as I was going to get for mid August in northern Georgia, but it turned out to be a nice day. I captured several of these images in midday when I visited the Waterlily Garden the first time. .

Then after visiting other areas of Gibbs, I walked back over to the Waterlily Garden a second time, before I left for the day. So without further fanfare, here are some of the purple Waterlily images I captured on that visit

I would like to say I could identify the exact names for all of these beautiful flowering Waterlilies, but sadly I come up short in that department. I hope you will forgive me.

At one point during my photo session, a Dragonfly decided to fly in for a brief sit down so I captured a few images of him taking a breather. I absolutely love Dragonflies.

These images feature the blue and purple hues in bloom on this bright sunny day at Gibbs. These particular hues are my favorite ones I love to photograph when I'm capturing images of Waterlilies.

For good measure, I thought I would throw in a close up of this purple Waterlily bloom. Gads, what gorgeous flowers. It's hard to imagine all of these images are different Waterlilies, but they are.

There are many gardens at Gibbs to say the least. However, the Waterlily Garden, where I captured these images, turned out to be my favorite. My second favorite was the Japanese Garden. I wished I could describe how gorgeous the Japanese Garden was. Perhaps, another Kentucky Woman Series post is in order to show you some of the beautiful greenery from my visit to that garden. The Weeping Willows with their hanging branches, coupled with the Japanese sculpture featured throughout that garden, was stunning.

I have fallen in love with botanical gardens. Soon, I hope to visit Cheekwood. I would have made the drive over to Nashville by now, but bronchitis had other plans. But, I am back in fighting form again so I hope to pay a visit there soon. I hope you enjoy these images. I loved capturing them. ENJOY!

A Photo Story

Reflections, Japanese Gardens, Gibbs Gardens

I am a self taught photographer. I studied Adam Jones, a well known nature photographer here in the States, and James Archambeault, a well known Kentucky outdoor photographer, whose specialty is landscapes and historical settings. I practiced shooting the light using 35mm slide film. I was actually quite good at it to my amazement. When I switched to digital it was frightening. The best thing I did was purchase Adobe Lightroom. Lightroom brings out detail in the shadows which is one of its best features. I love detail and I especially love bold, rich color. It comes from working too many years in the advertising industry. However, I seldom tweak the color, yet at times I do tweak saturation.

I wished I could have captured a crystal clear reflection in this image, but Mother Nature was blowing wistful breezes that day at Gibbs Gardens. I was thankful for them as it was hot. I used my 200mm lens. I had stopped using it so much, but recently I have noticed I am switching back and forth from the 200 to 300mm. This is one of my favorite images from that outing. The contrast in the green foliage and trees is fantastic and the detail, I love it. I took three portraits of this setting, working more on landscape views. I didn't linger when I took the portraits, yet I did on the landscapes. Turns out I love the portrait setting best. Isn't it amazing how that happens.

I appreciate your comments from my trip to Gibbs Gardens and Old Car City, and again to Cheekwood. I do have another post on Old Car City I will share soon. Fall is upon us here in Tennessee. Have a great week. ENJOY!

Waterlily Gardens, Gibbs Gardens

As beautiful as the lush Japanese Gardens were with the gorgeous foliage and large ponds with the Weeping Willow branches draped over the water, the Waterlily Gardens at Gibbs Gardens was simply gorgeous. Clumps of Waterlilies blooming in vibrant captivating colors graced the many ponds of the Waterlily Gardens. There are supposedly 140 varieties of Waterlilies that bloom here throughout the year.

The water source here comes from underground springs adding to the natural feeling you get as you walk among the ponds. As you meander from path to path, you encounter wooden bridges, covered bridges and even natural rock bridges, not to mention small waterfalls and even a Japanese pagoda. Remarkably, this Waterlily Garden has the largest natural display of Waterlilies in the nation.

The star of this feature garden though is the Waterlily flowers in bloom with their vibrant yellows, pinks, blues and lavenders. Before I left Gibbs for the day, I took a second walk around this particular garden as it was so captivating an experience. I was in my glory with all of the color and the beautiful Lily Pads. On this particular day the temperatures were milder than had been all Summer which I had noted on the forecast while planning this trip. I knew I would be spending three or four hours or longer walking throughout these gardens and I wanted the day to be somewhat mild. Thankfully, it was. What a magical place. I hope you enjoy these images as much as I enjoyed taking them. ENJOY!