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How-to Guide | Saucer Magnolias at the Smithsonian Castle

Each spring, the saucer magnolias in the Enid A. Haupt Garden behind the Smithsonian Castle create a fleeting spectacle of a flowery pink wonderland.

Saucer Magnolias in bloom at the Enid A. Haupt Garden

Photo taken with a FujiFilm X-Pro2 with a FujiFilm 23mm ƒ/2 R WR prime lens.

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Washington DC

I took this photo last spring during the very brief blooming of the saucer magnolias (or tulip magnolias) in Washington DC. They’re one of the spring’s first dramatic blooming varieties in the DC area, usually beating the more famous cherry blossoms by a couple of weeks.

But this particular year they were gone suddenly and dramatically. An Arctic blast that sent overnight temperatures tumbling froze the flowers and burned them. Within 24 hours of when I took this photo they were all a brown shriveled mess.

There’s no particular magic with taking this photo. The thing I wanted to do with it was getting the camera up amongst the flowers to give that look of being immersed in the sea of flowers. I want it to be amongst the flowers, not sitting back and looking from afar. I also used a larger aperture with a shallow depth of field for that same reason. But tulip magnolias hang low, so it wasn’t hard in this case–I just held the Fujifilm X-Pro2 above my head to shoot.

Where This Photo was Taken

I took this photo in the Enid A. Haupt Garden. It’s a Victorian-style garden out the back of the Smithsonian Castle and connects several Smithsonian museums and buildings: the African Art Museum, the Sackler Gallery, the Freer Gallery, the Arts and Industries Building, and the original Smithsonian Castle itself. There’s also the Moongate Garden, which is right behind where I was standing to take this photo.

The garden is named after Enid A. Haupt, an American publisher and philanthropist who contributed $3 million to make the garden a reality. Hapt was renowned for her patronage of horticulture. She contributed to many other projects, including the Haupt Fountains in the Ellipse between the White House and Washington Monument.

There’s a huge variety of plants in the garden, but the tulip magnolias are one of the spring highlights in large part because of there are so many here so densely concentrated.

How This Photo Was Taken

I shot this with a FujiFilm X-Pro2 with a FujiFilm 23mm ƒ/2 R WR prime lens. The X-Pro2 has an APS-C sensor, so the 23mm lens on it is the equivalent focal length of 35mm on a full-frame camera, which makes for a mildly wide perspective with a lot of versatility. It was shot at ISO 200 at ƒ/2.8 at ¹⁄₁₅₀₀ sec. I also had a Nikon D810 with me and repeated the same shot with that, but I like this version from the FujiFilm a little better.

It was shot in RAW and processed in Lightroom.

Nearby & Related:

  • Smithsonian Castle, Washington DC
    Smithsonian Castle
  • Moongate Garden
    Moongate Garden
  • Washington DC Cherry Blossoms - February 27, 2017
    How-to Guide | Cherry Blossoms with the Washington Monument
  • Photo of Smithsonian American Art and Portraiture Museum Interior Courtyard
    Smithsonian American Art Museum & National Portrait Gallery
  • 185-154133825 Freer Gallery of Art Peacock Room Wide Shot.
    Freer Gallery of Art
  • National Museum of African Art
    National Museum of African Art

David Coleman Photography

I’m a professional travel & location photographer based in Washington DC and traveling all over. Seven continents. Dozens of countries. Up mountains. Under water. And a bunch of places in between. You can find my main site at havecamerawilltravel.com. Or check out what’s in my go-to travel photography kit.


Location: Enid A. Haupt Gardens
Coordinates:
      Latitude: 38.888192
      Longitude: -77.026240

      # How-to Guides
      # Washington DC


About David Coleman

I take photos. I travel. I write. I do it for a living.

I’m based in Washington, DC.

You can find more of my work at havecamerawilltravel.com.

And if you’re visiting DC in the spring, be sure to check out my DC Cherry Blossom Watch site.

David Coleman Photography

I’m a professional travel & location photographer based in Washington DC and traveling all over. Seven continents. Dozens of countries. Up mountains. Under water. And a bunch of places in between. You can find my main site at havecamerawilltravel.com. Or check out what’s in my go-to travel photography kit. Or get in touch here.

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If you already have a buyer account with Alamy and would prefer to use that, you can search my images directly here.

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Photos by David Coleman. Please contact me for licensing images.
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