Another Tulip Festival

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As many of you know, Albany hosts a tulip festival every year on Mother's Day weekend.  In anticipation of that event, the city plants thousands of tulips in Washington Park several weeks 

before hand.  Every variety imaginable can be seen there.  

People drive from miles away to see the beautiful display and to take photos.  For the past two years I haven't been able to get down there to photograph the tulips, but really. . . . in spite of how beautiful they are, it's the same thing each year.  

It's difficult (but not impossible) to be too creative because the flowers are planted in tight beds which doesn't leave much room to maneuver the camera/tripod and to isolate any particular flower.  

So it's an interesting battle of wills to get a good, unique shot.

I had an appointment in Albany yesterday, so I drove down a little early in order to visit Washington Park.  Because of all the rain we've been having, the tulips looked pretty pathetic. I've never seen them look so sad before the event - - usually after the weekend is when they go to rack-and-ruin.  

But I was already there, so I tried to make lemonade out of lemons.

There were a few sections where the flowers were still in pretty good condition, but alas, the sky was blah.  Still . . . . you've got to work with what's available.