Yuko-En on the Elkhorn is the official Japan Friendship garden located at 700 US 25, Georgetown, KY

Today the beautiful water lilies were open for full display. They close up by late afternoon so get there early if you want to photograph them...

Beautiful overcast day allows for rich colors.

shot with a Fuji XT100, 90mm lens, F11, ISO 100 

Nikon 800, f5.6, 70-200mm

Nikon 800, f8, 70-200mm

Flowers and Balloons are AVA's favorite things

Let Them Eat Cake!

Birthday celebrations are fun but sometimes lighting situations are a difficult challenges to master. With guests crowded into a too small of a venue and little guests running into every shot was more then a challenge...it was total chaos!

Trying to find a clean shot with decent lighting was difficult. Unfortunately I was totally overwhelmed by all the challenges I encountered.

My lesson from this experience is
Do your homework! Be EXTRA  EXTRA Early! Even though I was early...so were some of the guests. Visit the venue prior to the event & evaluate the environment for best lens choices and do a pre-workup shoot and check list.

All in all it was a great party and our little princess turned ONE! Happy Birthday darling AVA ELISE...

The view of Cincinnati Ohio night skyline reflecting in the Ohio river. Taken with the Fuji X-T1 with a long exposure, 16mm 1.4 lens, HDR 3 bracket exposures.