Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Desert Botanical Garden - Luminarias



So I went to visit my parents in Phoenix for an early Christmas.  Anyone who has been to the Southwest around this time is probably familiar with luminarias.  Basically, they are candles in paper bags, but they are really beautiful in my humble opinion.


These are all pics from the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix.  It is open nights until December 30th for Las Noches de las Luminarias.  There is food, drinks, and live music throughout the gardens.  My favorite was jazz singer Chelé, who sang with this hill lit up behind her.

These pics are the result of my first time using a tripod and my first attempt at nighttime photos.  Not too bad if I don't say so myself.  More pics after the jump.

These cacti are called Cardón (Pachycereus pringlei).  Evidently they produce edible fruit as seen on Deborah Small's blog.  The following plants were lit up by the lighting in the gardens.

These last two pics were in the Berlin Agave Yucca Forest Exhibit.  Incredibly beautiful even with little light.


A merry Christmas to those that celebrate, and a happy solstice to us all, for the shortest days are behind us for another year.

3 comments:

  1. Great photos indeed. That last one is is a touch surreal. Tough to look at these and argue with folks who say that southwestern plants are the champions of landscape lighting. Merry christmas, po.

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  2. The nightime photos are beautiful. You did a great job! The shadows really capture the essence of the cacti.

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  3. Cool photos! In using the artificial lighting at night I think you've managed to make the dramatic succulents even more dramatic.

    ...and the luminarias are great too. Who'd have thought that something so simple could be so spectacular, especially when you do them in the hundreds.

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