Once in a Lifetime

Pamela and I used to go to the Como Park Conservatory often in winter, but we got out of the habit for some reason. I thought it might be a good idea if I remembered what the buttons on my camera do before I started trying to follow migrating songbirds from twig to twig with it, so I suggested we start again. It was certainly nice to be reminded that the color green exists, but the conservatory was much more crowded than I remember it being ten years ago, and the 100mm macro lens I use for dragonflies was even less ideal than I'd expected -- sometimes getting a whole flower in the shot would have meant backing into heavy foot traffic. I had to wait until the crowds thinned out in late afternoon to try to photograph this tangle of fruits on a palm tree.

( Three more photos )