Monday, December 15, 2025. Vienna, Virginia. Meadowlark Botanical Gardens.
That’s where I was around 5:30pm yesterday evening. Equipped with my Fuji GFX 50SII and yes, my 100-200mm lens. The one I hate to love and love to hate (I didn’t even read the link, but it looked relatable).
I made a bit of an oversight when packing my gear. Instead of my favorite versatile 45-100mm lens I packed my 100-200mm lens which, as previously mentioned, I’m not a huge fan of.
Oh well, I decided I had already paid the $25 to get into the gardens after dropping my friend off at Mr. Ronald Reagan’s Port of Air.
Filled with families and small children who were all in my way, I still managed to enjoy my nearly mile long hike along the restricted pathways. The light show was awesome and if you are a family with children, they have an awesome scavenger hunt to find different things throughout the gardens.
I always like the challenge of using an unfamiliar lens in unfamiliar circumstances, but I couldn’t mustard up the creativity this time. So I opted for some fun ICM (In Camera Motion) shots. I just set the ol’ ISO to 100 in aperture priority mode in the low lighting and just shook, spun and zoomed to see what I got. Not that I am self-conscience, but I wonder what non-photographers think when they see some dummy twirling a camera around in a very focused state-of-mind? Regardless, these shots are simple to capture and always lend to a great abstract image that is random and unpredictable and to me personally, are fun to look at.
Below are some of the images I edited this afternoon. Mostly out of camera with some tweaks in Light Room and some blur/motion effects in Photoshop for some extra pizzazz. Not my normal batch of images, but I hope you enjoy! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, if I don’t post again before the holiday!
- Mike
