Hundreds of varieties of lilacs, rhododendrons, magnolias and azaleas are on display during the annual Rochester, New York Lilac Festival.
Highland Park in Rochester, New York is the home to the annual Lilac Festival. One of the oldest festivals in the United States. Featuring 500 varieties of lilacs and hundreds more of rhododendrons, magnolias, azaleas, flowering bushes and trees. The park hosts a concert of fragrances and colors.
The festival has had to deal with the same rainy weather that has dominated the northeast this Spring and was closed for a few days. It was still raining when I visited after the festival reopened last week. People were determined to enjoy the festival and came with umbrellas and parkas. The weather slowly improved and left a vibrant and lush landscape of colors.
People found ways to enjoy the Lilac Festival in Rochester, New York despite the wet weather.
My wife and I met up with a couple, Dave and Gillian, whom I meet at Walt Disney World last January when I hosted a photowalk on Main Street USA. Dave is the photographer in the collage above lining up a colorful flowering tree in his viewfinder. Thanks for showing us around!
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Beautiful!! Wish I could have been there…
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You would have been in heaven. I surely wished I had a macro lens with me.
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That must have been a visual feast, and probably smelled delicious too!
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I know everyone has mentioned how green it’s been this year. It was like a rainforest. I didn’t even have to saturate the colors. If you see the people, their color is correct. The rest is lush vegetation from all the rain we’ve had this year.
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That first large photo is amazing! beautiful detail and photo sharpness to die for, Stunning!
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Thanks, KiwiD! I had to rely on my camera’s excellent ISO so I could stop down to get depth of field for the flowers.
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I like the colorful rain slickers as much as the lilac blooms, Scott.
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🙂 The girl was trying to decide if it had stopped raining. It had but drops where coming off all the trees.
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Four of my (many) favorite flowers have you chosen for your mosaic – beautiful! A shame you can not smell lilacs on the Internet – yet …
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If they came out with smell technology for the Internet, the food bloggers would be in heaven. LOL This park was a sensual delight.
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I can just imagine how wonderful it must have smelled there! My lilacs have pretty much all passed by now; I miss their beautiful scent. I love how you captured the “tonal” quality of lilacs with both the blue and lavendar color.
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They had hues of all kinds. Many did not have a name just a tag saying which others were used to cross in their creation. All the colors surround by the lush greens of this Spring.
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An exquisite mosaic in some of the prettiest Spring colours ! Although Spring colours are so delightful.
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Spring colors are so fresh, aren’t they?
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These shots are beautiful Scott!
I don’t know why, but I always have trouble capturing lilacs in their full glory…I never seem to be able to do them justice. You have certainly done them justice here. 🙂
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I bet you could, KD. The trick is to underexpose them just a bit. For my camera that means using EV at 0 (zero) when I usually use +0.3.
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MACRO! I’ve always wanted to have one! Very good image on all the flowers! I love it and its colors are very vibrant!
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Samanta,
You need to check out my Close Up Assignment and most of my posts during the month of March, 2011. I rented a macro lens for a few days. Wish I didn’t have to send it back!
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How so lovely! Beautiful lilacs and redbud trees, and a great shot of the lilacs. Must have been fun at the festival. 🙂
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