📸🌸 Spring at Golden Gate Park

Testing my rediscovered DSLR among the cherry blossoms and wildlife of Golden Gate Park.

It had been about four years since I last used a DSLR, and most of my previous experience was photographing portraits. After recently rediscovering my Canon EOS Kiss X7i, I brought it to Golden Gate Park for a first test run around the Japanese Tea Garden and San Francisco Botanical Garden.

The timing could not have been better. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom, and there was plenty of what I lovingly call “Level 1 wildlife” to practice with, including hoverflies, honey bees, chickadees, squirrels, and mallards.

Photographing wildlife comes with a completely different learning curve, both while shooting and editing afterward. These photos are not perfect, but they feel like a strong first step toward improving my wildlife photography and getting more serious about birding.

Someday, I’ll get that 400mm zoom lens. Until then, here is some of what caught my attention during a spring afternoon at Golden Gate Park.

Photographed on a Canon EOS Kiss X7i with an 18–135mm lens.

Cherry blossoms overlooking the Japanese Tea Garden.

White cherry blossoms in the spring sunlight.

A honey bee gathering pollen from cherry blossoms.

A hoverfly resting on a sunlit leaf.

A chestnut-backed chickadee perched among the branches.

A tree squirrel enjoying a snack.

A small bird perched among the garden’s branches.

Mallards resting beside the water.

A mallard resting on a pond covered in duckweed.

California poppies growing in the spring grass.

California poppies glowing in the afternoon sun.

Spring blooms surrounding the temple gate.

The five-story pagoda framed by trees and cherry blossoms.

Naga, the sea dragon, emerging from the greenery.