Name: Intermediate Photography–The next step–starts Saturday, July 25
Start: 2026-07-25T09:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-07-25T12:00:00-05:00
Location: Chicago Botanic Garden

Students concentrate on waterlilies.

Waterlilies are not only seasonal, but also time-sensitive. Think of them to be rather like pop-up stores that are here from July thru September, but only open from 9 am – 5 pm. That’s what we did in the recent Waterlilies Workshop last Saturday at the Chicago Botanic Garden. A fine/fun time was had by everyone. Students captured many images that are certainly wall-worthy and should be printed by my friend Igor at the VIP Pro Photo Lab in Park Ridge, Il. I know there are some great shots because students have, per my request, sent them to me. If you have wondered when to use a longer lens, this is it–at least at the CBG–since the water areas which contain the plants are just far enough out to require a 100+mm focal length lens (full-frame).

Find patches of water lilies and get there asap. Once you’re there, remember to saturate the color by using exposure comp (+/-) to slightly underexpose the scene. Some students used a diffusion filter to get a “Monet” effect.

Waterlilies without diffusion filter

Diffusion filter creates “Monet” effect.

18mm, f8 @ 1/30, no filter

18mm, f8 @ 1/80 with 3-stop ND Grad

I received a 3-stop, soft-edge ND grad filter from the Camera Clubhouse cats. They decided to purchase from Breakthrough Photography since I mentioned that one of my students brought Breakthrough Filters to a recent class and, on inspection, the filters seemed to be very well made. An ND Grad filter starts dark and fades to clear so the placement of the dark portion is determined by both the bright part of the scene and the photographer. This filter made quite a difference in holding down the sun in the upper part of the image. Check out the “no-filter” image and ND Grad image. The difference will amaze you. Please note: I have no affiliation with Breakthrough Photography and chose them only based on student referral.

Waterlily shots: Get ’em while you can

Find patches of water lilies and get there asap. Once you’re there, remember to saturate the color by using exposure comp (+/-) to slightly underexpose the scene. Some students used a diffusion filter to get a “Monet” effect.

Filters can make a difference

Intermediate Photography–The next step–starts Saturday, July 25

Find patches of water lilies and get there asap. Once you’re there, remember to saturate the color by using exposure comp (+/-) to slightly underexpose the scene. Some students used a diffusion filter to get a “Monet” effect.

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