52frames Inspired by a Photographer

He was right. Taking photos of koi is quite tricky. A Polish photographer Lukasz Palka who lives in Tokyo has taken some lovely photos of koi. So I tried my best at the National Arboretum to do the same. The koi pond just reopened and there weren’t a lot of fish. The water was a bit murky and they were primarily in the shade. They move about so quickly and appear to be rather shy. Aside from the fish we took a morning walk through the azalea park - but we missed the peak blooms. Another photographer I wanted to mimic was an Iranian film maker who has also done a lot of black and white images. So we wandered about the grounds and found some interesting options. Before we left we checked out the herb gardens and roses and arbors, then passed through the substantial bonsai collection.  I was surprised how much attention both the fish and the woods got on my Facebook business page and on Instagram. I use the responses to gauge which photo to choose for the weekly challenge, along with my husband’s opinion. I ended up selecting a single koi - there was something about the contrasting color of the fish and the water even though it wasn’t very crisp. Regardless of the challenge it’s a great excuse to get out of the house.