Phoenix, Arizona.

It has the name RoHoEn, the Japanese Friendship Garden in downtown Phoenix. The joint project of the City of Phoenix and Himeji, Japan (Phoenix sister city) has a mission to maintain a beautiful, serene Japanese garden. They have truly succeeded. The 3.5-acre garden has a large pond, a tea garden, and a tea house. It was our first visit to the garden and we found it most enjoyable to wander along the walkways. By design, “…the viewer is led to uncover intentionally hidden views of the landscape while strolling along its curved paths.”

Photographers need to be aware that there is a strictly enforced policy involving commercial photography or even amateur photography that uses even a tripod or that involves the structured posing of people being photographed. The garden’s policy offers reserved times and charges a fee for things like wedding photography, family or group photos, etc.

The policy makes allowances for social media, however, and it is under this guidance that I am sharing the above image. From their Photo Policy page here: Still, we recognize that people like to take pictures, and everyone has a high-quality camera in his/her pocket nowadays. We love seeing guests tag us on social media; however, anything beyond a quick snap is subject to review by our Garden staff.

About the photo: At the suggestion of blogger Marsha Ingrao, I am also submitting this photo as part of the #SundayStills challenge, #Water, announced last Sunday, May 2. More about Sunday Stills can be found here.

Coincidentally, this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge theme is Gardens, so I am also considering this post as a preview of my usual Thursday response. You can read Amy’s challenge post here.

Captured with my Samsung S20U, this snapshot of the waterfall and Koi pond reflects the beauty and tranquility of the garden. The Japanese Friendship Garden is truly a beautiful place to spend a few hours in restful contemplation. The image was processed with Adobe Lightroom and Luminar AI.

John Steiner