Where You Can Get In Some Nature Photography Even With This Weather

 This time of year can be frustrating for Nature Photographers. Many plants aren't up and blooming yet. The weather is often cool and cloudy at best, and we all have a serious case of "cabin fever".
There are a couple of answers to these problems without having to drive too far. The Conservatory at the Huntington Museum of Art has quite a few Orchids in bloom right now along with their other plants like Hibiscus, Plumeria and Bleeding Heart.  I've visited there several times in the last two weeks and been able to sooth my photo addiction nicely. I used a tripod and natural light for most of my shots there. I would suggest that method but if you don't have a tripod, increasing the ISO setting on your camera would work also.

Another place to get some photos of outdoor subjects, while you are nice and dry is the Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus, Ohio. I visited there on March 31 and enjoyed a huge display of Orchids and of course, the Butterfly exhibit. The Orchid display will soon be gone but you will be able to see and photograph the Butterflies until early September. This is a good place to ease your nature photo craving even when the weather is bad. There is a "Desert Room" with plenty of Cacti to photograph, a "Palm Room" with a Palm plants of all sizes, and other rooms, and areas of interest to a nature photographer.........and it doesn't matter if it's cold or raining. You can get Butterfly shots on natural backgrounds or like the one above, on blown glass sculptures if you want a little bit of a different look to your shots. There are plenty of non Nature related items to be photographed here as well.