Spring bulbs are in bloom

Friday marked the opening of the 2011 Spring and Bulb Show at the Garfield Park Conservatory in Indianapolis, and I stopped in at the show that day to grab the images you see here. The show runs through April 1. Admission is $3; families pay no more than $8.

On April 2, conservatory staff will sell all the bulbs on a first-come, first serve basis. The conservatory's hours of operation are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays and 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays.

The images here are from both the bulb show, which is confined to the atrium area at the front (north end) of the conservatory, and the tropical plant exhibit in the larger back end. The $3 admission gets you access to both.

I swung by the conservatory after stopping in Beech Grove to shoot pictures -- primarily for posterity purposes -- of the interior of the Benedict Inn activities center, which will close its doors due to financial reasons at the end of March. The Benedictine Sisters plan to raze the building later in the year and leave the site vacant. The Benedict's Inn retreat operation will continue to run in the building next door to the activities center.

The activities center -- known for its swimming pool and gymnasium but also used for conferences and other gatherings -- was used through the years by many churches, schools and organizations on the Southside of Indianapolis, and thus holds a special memory for many people. The Benedictine Sisters, while cheerfully consenting to my request to grab pictures of the interior (I will furnish them copies of the images, which they had requested for their archives), asked me not to post any of the photos in this blog. They have been dealing with the building's imminent closure for some time now and have emotionally put its closure behind them. They fear that posting pictures from my shoot would serve to revive sentiment in the community and force them to have to go through another round of something they feel they've already weathered.

 

 

 

Christmas at Garfield -- Candlelight Crossing

Every year during the month of December, the Garfield Park Conservatory in Indianapolis is decked out in holiday decor, highlighted by displays of poinsettias; trees and plants festooned by thousands of lights; and model trains that pass through miniature towns whose structures and people look to be from another era of time.

In a way, my visit to the conservatory Friday was a trip to another time. I had not been there in the month of December since my children were still small and sang in our church's cherub choir. Back then, the cherub choir would learn a program of seasonal carols and perform a handful of shows at a few places in the community. Some venues for the shows would change from year to year, but one of the static sites was the conservatory, with the colorful poinsettias and holiday decorations serving as a beautiful backdrop.

Near the end of each December, to launch the beginning of extended hours of "Christmas at Garfield," the conservatory throws a special event, "Candlelight Crossing." In addition to providing live harp music and making snacks, cookies and beverages available to visitors, Candlelight Crossing (and the extended hours for the rest of the display's duration) enables you to see these exhibits after dark, where the light displays really stand out -- and beg for photographers to capture it in images.

This year's "Candlelight Crossing" was Friday, and I visited as an outing with members of the photo club I belong to. On this evening, even the condensation on the conservatory windows proved to be of photographic interest. The images you see here are from that trip.

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Christmas at the White River Gardens Conservatory

The conservatory at White River Gardens in White River State Park in Indianapolis is decked out for the holidays. I stopped in there Thursday afternoon, and these pictures -- taken with my relatively new Canon PowerShot G12 -- are from that shoot. For anyone who might want to drop in and catch pictures particularly of the holiday lights, be advised that most of the bulb lights used for decoration flash on and off in sync to continuous seasonal music piped through speakers. Sometimes, depending on a song's rhythm, you won't see lights on a tree or wreath for a while, and you have to freeze your frame on it and hope you can snap the shutter quick enough when the lights do flash.