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A Dehiscence of Light – Lesson 1.3

A Dehiscence of Light – Worth Garden

The Wikipedia definition of dehiscence is “the spontaneous opening at maturity of a plant structure, such as a fruit, anther, or sporangium, to release its contents”. Here I present my own dehiscence – of light as I find it in gardens.

As a mature garden photographer (no smirks please), I release some of my favorites as a way to explore visual poetry, while still furthering the mission to teach garden photography with this ebook. Lesson 1.3. Continue Reading →

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Composition 102 – Balance

The PhotoBotanic Garden Photography Workshop: 1.2

Our last lesson, the first of the series in my new e-book, and the most important lesson to remember in creating a good garden photo is to fill the frame of your composition with only those elements that contribute to your story. A painter doesn’t waste canvas, a photographer shouldn’t waste space either.

OK, using the entire frame is a given. Every other technique assumes this. Look at any photo in my Gardening Gone Wild posts tagged “The Camera Always Lies” and consider full frames. Now, how do we arrange the elements into a balanced composition? Continue Reading →

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Composition 101- Fill the Frame

Well, here we go. Join me here as the book unfolds. The PhotoBotanic Garden Photography Workshop is being written one post at a time – starting here.

Long time readers of Gardening Gone Wild will know I have been writing about garden photography for almost 5 years. Now its time for a book, an e-book that will re-organize and greatly expand on what you can find here. All my posts have been tagged The Camera Always Lies and I will be pulling from some of my favorites for inspiration.

Begin at the beginning; section one of the book: Good Garden Photography.

I have a workshop lecture entitled “Good” Garden Photography. ”Good” being high-lighted because a good photo to a journalist is not just about aesthetics. My job as a garden photographer is not simply pretty pictures, it is about illustrating, informing, and inspiring. I am a gardener myself, I want gardeners to have success. That is how I see my job and you can re-read my Photographer’s Rant (October 2007) and the ‘camera always lies’ dilemma of portraying real gardens in the media.

But the workshop lecture begins with “purdy” pictures and that is how this adventure begins. Lesson 1.1: Composition – Fill the Frame. Continue Reading →

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Find the Photo – Leading Lines

Native plant gardens tend to be hard to photograph. Often the gardeners care more about the plants and habitat than the aesthetics. This is perfectly OK – unless you are trying to photograph them.

We need better photographs of native plant gardens to encourage those gardeners who DO care about aesthetics, who want to do the right thing by way of sustainability, and don’t realize how beautiful natives can be. To encourage more native plant gardening I have set out to find more gardens, and the photos within. Continue Reading →

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