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Get Inside the Garden

Think Like a Gardener – Design and Shape. The PhotoBotanic Garden Photography Workshop – Lesson 3.1

The formal design of Filoli Garden fills the space with precision.

Finding your own style as a garden photographer begins with your own understanding of gardens. Think like the gardener within, then get inside the garden to find your photo.

This lesson in The PhotoBotanic Garden Photography Workshop is about Design and Space. In earlier lessons we talked about design and space as it relates to the composition of a photograph, how to fill the camera frame (space) with a pleasing composition (design). Here we look at the gardens themselves. Now we will be looking at themes and assignments for you when you go out with the camera. Continue Reading →

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Robin’s Succulent Sphere

photo-2 Robin Stockwell (right), owner of Succulent Gardens Nursery, has a reputation of creating over-the-top displays for the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show. Like two years ago, a cube house with succulent walls and a moat. Robin’s known for his vertical displays of succulents—entire panels consisting of little plants with different colored leaves. So take a look at this. Does it look familiar? Yep, Robin has made a huge succulent globe for the show this year, which is taking place right now through March 24. Below are photos of the globe under construction. Details are on the Succulent Gardens website. Continue Reading →

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How A Child’s Passion Grew Into Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

I’ve been following the growth of Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds Catalog for years. When ordering from them this year, I read about Jere Gettle, the founder, and in a split second knew that I wanted to interview him. He’s an innovator and visionary in the world of gardening. Fran Sorin

1. You planted your first garden at age 3. Do you come from a gardening lineage?

My great uncle was one of the first organic farmers in California. Many family members were market gardeners over the years. I remember planting with both my parents and grandparents in their large gardens.

2. How does a 3 year old go about planting a garden?

I started by tagging along with parents and grandparents as they worked in their gardens. When I began poking my own seeds into the ground, excitement and amazement grew along with the plants as I watched the flowers and fruits that came from those seeds.

Continue Reading →

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Think Like a Gardener

This photographer sees a flower.

If you want to be a garden photographer you need to think like a gardener. You are not just taking a picture of a landscape, you are photographing a garden.

This may seem obvious, but it is important to keep it in mind as you look at a scene and try to tell your story. What is it about the scene in front of you that makes it a garden ? What is it, within your own gardening experience, that you want to say and share ? Remember, the camera always lies, and it is you the photographer that determines what the camera sees. Continue Reading →

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Time to Celebrate Ice Plants!

I showed this photo recently at one of my presentations. In the back of the room, a little girl stood on a chair to see better. I understood; as a child growing up in Southern CA, I also was captivated by brilliant ice plant blooms.