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Bok Path

Sometimes life is like walking down a garden path, other times, maybe not so much. Either way, it would be a loss not to notice the scenery.

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Bok Path
The path through Bok Tower Gardens in Florida

I took this from Bok Tower Gardens last year. It’s a favorite place for weddings and of course wedding or engagement photos. It’s not so touristy that it gets overcrowded. If you’re into landscape or wedding photography, put this on your list.

more from Bok Tower gardens in the gallery

The only problem with outdoor weddings here in Florida is the risk of thunderstorms. But they only last a few minutes and then afterward the paths have a sheen and the plants glisten. I was only here to take pictures of the scenery, and after waiting out the storm took a bunch of shots like this.

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Hidden Garden

Isn’t it cool when you find a hidden garden in a place you never expected? This is kind of like that for me.

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Hidden Garden
The garden at Bok Tower in Lake Wales, Polk County Florida

Actually, this is the gardens below the Bok Tower in Polk County Florida. I (and countless others) have taken this exact shot, but this time I wanted to include the foreground as well. In this way, it forms a natural vignette of the pond and water lilies.

landscape gallery

To make this work I had to use a technique known as focus-stacking. One photo was focused on the closest plants while the other was on the far side of the pond. I also used a very high f-stop which maximizes the depth of field. Then it’s a matter of careful blending to get it all sharp. Little projects like this are time-consuming, but relaxing at the same time. There are worse things I could be looking at.

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Bok Tower Gardens

This photo was taken a few minutes after a thunderstorm. I emerged from under a shelter to capture the scene, ears still ringing from the lightning strike on the tower. All in all, a typical summer afternoon in Florida.

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Bok Tower Gardens
This was taken minutes after a thunderstorm passed overhead

There are shelters throughout the gardens, and it was nice to just sit there with my fellow visitors through the rain; there are worst places to be stuck. As gardens go, Bok Tower Gardens draw a good size crowd. Only a couple of minutes after I took this, the paths re-filled with people.

I recently posted a photo of the golden door at the base of the tower, and now you can see it in the context of the full tower.

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I’m not a garden person per se. I don’t often get my hands dirty working with plants. But I know it’s richly satisfying to many people. I’m the other half of the population that likes to come around after the hard work to admire and take photos. That should count for something, right?

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The Golden Door

This image is the golden door at the base of Bok Tower in Central Florida. I was here the other day taking pictures of the gardens and just before leaving noticed this elaborate door. Surely it is an element of some fantasy novel I haven’t read yet.

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The Golden Door
The door at the base of Bok Tower in Lake Wales Florida

Florida is mainly flat, and the tower is on the tallest hill of the Florida peninsula at 295 feet above sea level. Add the tower’s 205 feet on top of that, and it’s easily the tallest thing around for maybe fifty or a hundred miles.

While I was there, music from the tower’s carillon bells resounded throughout the gardens. Perhaps someone was playing them or, maybe it was automated. I didn’t take the tour to find out.

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A thunderstorm rolled over, and the bells abruptly stopped minutes before lightning hit the top of the tower. The tower has lightning rods, so it’s perfectly safe, but I would not want to be the one striking those bells in a storm. Unless perhaps, it was part of the plot of that novel I’ve not yet read.

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Bok Tower

The Tower and Gardens were constructed almost a hundred years ago on what was then a barren hill of sand and dirt. Now it's a historic national landmark and a favorite of wedding planners. In fact there was a wedding about to begin as I took this shot. This is a beautiful spot and now that I know where it is I'll plan on coming here every now and then to see it in the different seasons. Not that we have a lot of seasons in Florida.

The Tower and Gardens were constructed almost a hundred years ago on what was then a barren hill of sand and dirt. Now it’s a historic national landmark and a favorite of wedding planners. In fact there was a wedding about to begin as I took this shot. This is a beautiful spot and now that I know where it is I’ll plan on coming here every now and then to see it in the different seasons. Not that we have a lot of seasons in Florida.

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