Every fall the Montreal Botanical Garden (Jardin Botanique) holds a lantern festival in their Chinese Garden, and I've been fortunate enough to visit it more than once. The Chinese Garden itself is the best I've ever visited, and it's only a small part of a garden complex that's easy to spend all day in, including unusual features like the Alpine Garden and the Edible Garden.
My first visit, in 2011, was during the day, not long after I got my 17mm tilt-shift lens, and I was particularly struck by the opportunity to get the harmonious lines of this phoenix and its environment perfect. The way the curves of the tail move into the curves of the tree here really express the care and quality the gardeners put into their work setting up the exhibit.
The centerpiece of the Chinese Garden is a large lake with a pagoda above it, and the lake itself is filled with lanterns for the festival. Even in the middle of the day the reflections are strong.
In 2013 I was able to visit at night, to get the full effect of the lanterns and their light on the plants. The dragon above is positioned with the same tree and rock as the phoenix, just from a different angle. Again the wide angle shift lens allowed me to adjust the relative positions of the foreground and background objects to get the tree right where I wanted it, flowing out from the dragon's tail. I particularly enjoy the light here.
I have plans to return to Montreal in early October this year and possibly visit the festival again.
This has been an entry in the 1001 Places to Remember project by @archisteem and @photocircle.