Beautiful photos, and the saturated colors look stunning as we continue with rather gray colorless weather outside.

Thanks for posting, Bill.

"Iris in the gardens at our villa in Tuscany"

Said so casually, but the idea of a villa in Tuscany, with irises, is lodged in my brain after a morning of heavy rain with overcast skies and a landscape of dark brown, light brown and dark green.

Thanks, Bill

Claire

This post was edited by claire on Sun, Mar 30, 14 at 14:39

Thanks Bill! Sounds like a fantastic trip! I've always wanted to go to The Netherlands in May. We went in 2012 in the summer to Floriade which was incredible, but I'd still really like to see drifts and drifts of tulips. How was the rest of the park in general aside from the tulip displays?
We're you able to get to the auctions at all?
Tuscany in spring must have been incredible with all the sweeping views!

Thanks for all the nice comments.

Thyme, all of Keukenhof was beautiful. I did not get to go to the auctions. The trees and water, lawns and walkways are all beautifully integrated into a fantastic garden. Of course there are all sorts of bulbs, but the tulips are the stars of the show.

Claire, the villa in Siena was beautiful and the restaurant there was fantastic! This was my fourth trip to Italy, but the first time I had a car to drive around the Tuscan countryside to take photos.

NH Babs, the colors were great, and although I've been an advanced amateur photographer for years (so I can claim at least part of the credit!), I must say that I love my Fujifilm camera, which I had purchased just a couple of weeks before the trip. Fuji is renowned for brilliant and accurate color, and for flowers those are excellent qualities.

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Truly, Bill, the colors in your photos are magnificent!
I was struck by the contrast .... overabundant luxury from thousands of tulips at Keukenhof .... the striking pops of color among the weeds in Italy.

Thanks....these are so welcome after our long weekend of gray skies and rain.

Molie

I love your photos!
I also love Italy. Your photo of the red poppies at the Forum made me swoon-a real delight.
Nice to know about your new Fujifilm camera-your photos are grand!
Thanks for adding color to this very dreary morning!

Looks like you had a great trip, Bill! Thanks for the beautiful photos!

Bill, are you saying you have a digital fujifilm camera and the color "acts" like the old Fuji film, like Fuji Velvia slide film? Before digital we always shot slides and it was always fujifilm. Couldn't beat the rich colors as far as we were concerned. But, I hadn't thought about the rendering of color from a digital camera??

Having a car in the Tuscan countryside must have been something else. My mom and I still talk about the amazing lunch of fresh pasta, antipasto and olive oil right from the grove when we were there. YUM!

Thyme, there are, of course, several models of Fujifilm cameras. Yes mine is digital (my second Fuji digital actually). It does have options for Fuji brand film simulation - Velvia, Astia or Provia - among many other features. I've used Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Toshiba and Sony digitals, my first one was way back in 1999! But for me, none of them can bring out the accurate and brilliant colors that Fuji cameras can.

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Bill, that is really interesting information. I wish I knew that before I got my Nikon. Velvia and Provia were always our slide films of choice. Is your Fuji a digital SLR, or a point and shoot? Maybe I should read the instructions on my digital SLR. It probably has settings "like" that.

I just mentioned this to my DH and he said his new camera, which is Fuji, which I never paid attention to, has those settings. He bought a fixed focal length camera for his model railroad shooting. But for the garden......I'm going to investigate mine to check for the possibility of a more vivid option.

Thanks for the info!

Thyme, mine is what they call a "superzoom bridge camera". The model is the X-S1. Fuji's "X" series are their best models, especially the build quality, and also the features. It looks like a DSLR, but the lens is fixed. Zoom range is 24-624mm (equivalent on a 35mm camera) so great zoom. Actually, it's being sold now for about HALF (!) of what I paid a year ago, at Amazon and elsewhere (such as BestBuy, since they price match) for only $349. I sold all my Nikon stuff after I got this. No more changing lenses, and lugging them all around (too old for that now......). It's a great all-in-one camera, solid build too. I don't shoot a lot of video, but it does full HD (1920x1080) when I do want a movie clip. Anyway, I hope you find the settings to simulate the slide film.

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gorgeous photos! Thanks for sharing.

Defrost, glad you liked them. Thanks for the compliment.

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Thanks also for the camera discussion. I am in the market and so appreciate it.

NHBabs, I will say that this is the best camera I've ever used, and I've used a LOT of them. Especially for the price, it's just amazing. More features and options than I could post here. Best colors of any camera I've ever used, hands down. And for our flowers, that's important to us gardeners. Best of luck with your search for a new camera!

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I was at Keukenhof last May too. Did Keukenhof on the 20th and the Chelsea Flower Show in London on the 22nd. So wish I could go back this year too. Here is one of my favorite photos of Keukenhof. How do you post more than one photo in a post?

whitegarden: Those tulips look like a parade marching down the field! I can almost hear the bands playing.

How do I include a photo in my post? FAQ

Claire