May 4, 2019. Crystal Hermitage Gardens, outside of Nevada City, California. When we went to visit our friends in the Sierra foothills, we were prepared for some landscapes. Alas, the sky was blue. From horizon to horizon it was utterly devoid of texture. Not the best for landscapes. But little did we know that our friends had something else in mind anyway.
Two weeks ago, they were exploring Highway 49 and stopped in Nevada City. By chance, someone asked them if they were there for the tulips. Tulips? Oh, yes — at Crystal Hermitage Gardens about twelve miles out of town. They went. They saw. Two weeks later, we all went and saw.
Georgia, or someone like her, tagged along. And me without my macro lens. Did pretty well anyway.
PS — After a stroll through the gardens, which was like a warm spiritual shower, we went back through Nevada City and stopped at Three Forks Bakery and Brewing Company. Best pizza in my life. And one of the best IPAs. So in case you’re in the area, you have two places to visit.
(Nikon D850, Tamron SP 24–70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 2.2; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)
More fine art photography at www.amagaphoto.com
AMAGA Photography Blog 
You and tulips…marvelous!
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Yeah, we have a thing. Thank you!
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Great post 😃
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Thanks!
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Lovely! Strangely enough, even with the countless colors and shades of flowers, I enjoy photographing and viewing white flowers the most.
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Me too. In the floral portrait section of my website you’ll see a run on white roses. There is very often a subtlety of color in white that you just don’t get anywhere else.
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white harmony. Beautiful!
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Grazie Margot!
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The primary sinuous sweep is quite attractive. Minimalism lives.
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Thanks very much, Steve. It is indeed that sweep that drew me in.
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S-m-o-o-t-h! Beautiful picture.
I went to Taliesin (East) last week, where O’Keeffe visited, and I’m thinking it’d be great to do a NM/AZ trip, and combine a visit to Taliesin West with one to her museum.
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Thank you very much, Robert. Your proposed trip sounds great! We visited Taliesin West many years ago and I found it thoroughly inspirational. Need to go to the O’Keeffe museum though. That’s on my bucket list.
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These flower close-ups you’ve been presenting are truly remarkable.
I went to the southwest for a college class, to Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, etc. and loved it, and have been wanting to go back. But summer is the busiest time for my office, and I haven’t been here for a year yet, so have limited time off. But onto the bucket list! 🙂
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Thank you very much Robert. If you like mine, Lemony Gregg will blow your mind.
https://lemonygregghead.wordpress.com/tag/photography/
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Your tulip is beautiful Michael, but I’ll admit I’d be all about the pizza 🙂
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Thanks Tina. Each has its merits and can be appreciated independently. I grew up in western New York state and my wife grew up in Northern New Jersey. We are both very particular about pizza. We’ve been eating pizza all our lives. This one wins hands-down. And the Dynamite IPA is well named. It’s IBU is listed as “lots.” On the other hand, the Crystal Hermitage Gardens are beyond compare, as are the caretakers and volunteers.
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I lived in Northern NJ for a long time Michael. Where is your wife from?
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Westfield. Her stepmother still lives in the same house.
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We were up near the Playboy retreat at the corner of Morris County. There are some beautiful places in NJ altho most people think of the turnpike or parkway or Newark. UGH!!
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Much of New Jersey is very beautiful. Morris County is certainly one example. Although coming out of the Lincoln Tunnel headed west has been compared to going through a wormhole in New York and ending up in one of the worst parts of eastern Europe during the cold war.
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LOL, well, there is that!
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I am sure Georgia would see her influence in this image, Michael. Lovely. My introduction to her art was by a girl friend who took me to a local restaurant to enjoy her suggestively sensual treatments of her subjects that were hanging on the walls. One of my favorite Adams images is of her smiling mischievously.
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Suggestively sensual in some cases is an understatement! My favorite image of her too!
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Simply beautiful!
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Thank you!
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I’m a great fan of white flowers, and the sinuosity of this image proves that an absence of color doesn’t have to be bland, or featureless. I love the double entendre in your title. I confess I was a bit surprised to find a flower, and not a Georgia. It’s fun to see the details of that petal’s curve as the flower’s spinal column.
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Thanks very much. You see what I saw. And, there is very subtle color. Those details took a lot of work to bring out. Many pixels’ lives were changed in the creation of this image. Ms. O’Keeffe is one of my favorite and most persistent muses.
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You sure you didn’t have your macro? 😉 Wonderful image .. That IPA and pizza sound great!
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Thank you. Nope, no macro. This is a small crop of the image. The D850’s 45 megapixel sensor and Topaz AI Gigapixel software rescued me. Pizza and IPA were memorable.
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Truly magnificent
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Thank you.
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Still trying to catch up and still way behind….this is utterly gorgeous, just perfect. I love that it’s white. And the way that curve begins in some anonymous, even space, then resolves into those delicate little teeth, each one described carefully. Loved your narrative as well.
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Thank you very much. That’s exactly what I was trying to do. Apparently I succeeded.
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