By happy coincidence we visited the San Francisco Botanical Gardens when they were having a special annual show entitled "Flower Piano". We learned that this is the fourth year they've done this. It is a special summer event, lasting 12 days, where they have 12 pianos placed all around the Botanical Gardens. Anyone can sit down and play! When we first heard about this, we weren't too sure what to make of it, but now that we've seen and heard it, we think it's quite brilliant. Most of the presumably "amateur" pianists that sit down and play these pianos turn out to be highly talented! Everyone played quite beautifully. No duffers. The setting is gorgeous. As we walked away from one piano and its surroundings, the sound would die away and we'd begin to hear another piano in a different area of the Botanical Gardens. This ebb and flow of the music as we walked among the flowers was quite delightful.
Here's a Stellar's Jay we spotted while walking over to the Botanical Gardens from the Conservatory of Flowers. What a rich blue color this bird has! I happened to have my 12-40mm lens on my camera but wished I'd had my telephoto on instead. Birds move way too fast to allow a lens change. I still got a decent capture, albeit with some post shot cropping.
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| Stellar's Jay |
This stacked piano object is one of the first things one sees when walking into the Botanical Gardens. Seeing this, we knew we were in for an unusual treat.
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| Stacked Pianos |
A closer view:
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| Altered Piano |
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| Barefoot Concert |
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| With a Feather in his Cap |
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| Fronds in the Sky |
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| Musical Duo with Audience |
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| Playing Under Red Hair |
I don't remember what kind of trees these are, but their flowing reddish "hair" was quite remarkable. Below is a wider angle shot of the same scene. After the fact, I wished that I would have used an even wider angle and included the talented musicians, seen above, in this second shot.
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| Rapunzel Tree |
It wasn't *all* about the pianos. The Botanical Gardens had many enjoyable flowers to look at.
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| Delicate Life |
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| Popping Out All Over |
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| Gorbachev |
Some of the pianos had larger groups gathered around, many having brought their own instruments.
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| The Band's All Here |
This guy was playing Beatles music in a classical arrangement! He was phenomenally good.
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| Creative Setting |
I noticed that most all the piano players had no sheet music and often had lengthy pieces fully memorized. They were often completely "involved" in the music, fully "in the zone" as they played.
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| Beatles in the Garden |
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| Piano in the Round |
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| Fire Needles |
At one point this dragonfly decided to rest on Deb's finger. He/she remained there for several minutes even while we walked further. This photo was taken at a close distance with my faithful 12-40mm lens, not my macro lens.
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| New Pet |
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| Iris Flows |
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