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A gorgeous golden pear at a past
Malvern Autumn Show |
In the last of my posts on photography in the garden, I want to encourage you to keep your eyes open! Open to the possibilities that lie all around you. Whether quirky or factual, if it catches your eye, shoot it. Think about why you are taking the shot: as a record, to make a stunning greetings card, for your journal, or to turn it into some creative work of art. It affects the camera settings and background.
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| Marvellous herbs; pity about the intrusive display fabric |
My magazine and online features frequently focus on herbs, so I am always on the lookout for useful images, in my own garden, when out visiting or touring, or at flower shows. Imagine my frustration when seeing a perfect display to have it ruined by the stall surroundings? The drapes destroy the delicacy of the flowers. Hessian would have set them off perfectly.
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| Finding a natural frame for a scenic shot |
Look to create a natural frame – both these next two images are included to demonstrate that you can do so by utilising natural foliage as in the landscape above. It may be a question of moving slightly to get what you want, or using a stepladder – take one with you. We do. There are so many gardens set in hilly landscapes, so it is worth taking advantage of what is given to you, particularly carrying a small step-ladder does not appeal.
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| Birtsmorton Court, Glos |
Archways and gates are a give-away, but why I chopped the top off I cannot think – included to show that I cannot have been thinking. It’s included also to demo that you can play with digital images using software such as Photoshop Elements; in this I gave it a soft frame and must have played with the colours: never used, it was just an experiment on a poor original !
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| A serene corner at Upton House, Warwickshire |
As to in-situ shots, no matter what the subject, take them when you see something you love, particularly if it is of a pleasing planting, or juxtaposition of objects in a garden you are visiting. Gardens change over the years and it’s no use anticipating that what was there this year will still be there in 2014. Hence my disappointment when I went back to look at this serene corner planted with herbs against a block of stone. Gone.
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| One of the 'nine green gardens' at Aberglasney, Carmarthenshire, Wales |
Even more so when this amazing reconstruction of a medieval demesne garden had been grubbed up and the bay trees removed. I was distraught for it had captured my heart and I wanted an updated shot. One of my better images, perfectly positioned – and then I discovered it was my husband who took it!!
Labels: images, landscape, photo manipulation, photography, scenic shots, shoot, visiting gardens
