Tag Archives | california

Spring unfolding – Focus Point

It’s wildflower season !  Grab you camera (and tripod), some sturdy shoes, sunblock , a bottle of water, and go study what is unfolding in nature.  The miracles become all the more fantastic by examining the wonder in the details.

A macro lens is essential for studying nature close up.  It will allow close focusing so you can fill your frame with the flower, leaf, or bug; and with a dedicated macro lens, as opposed to a point and shoot with macro capability, you can get some very special photos. Continue Reading →

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Hard Light – Back Light

There was a time when I would never shoot in harsh, hard light.  Bright, strong, contrasty light tends to have deep, black shadows and no color subtlety.  As a garden photographer, when the sun came into the garden I would retreat to the shadows where the light was soft.

But I am also a California garden photographer and the sun is an important element of many a garden’s story.  People expect to see sunny California gardens, and when a photo can manage to show some bright sun somewhere in the picture, the scene will glow. Continue Reading →

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Citrus Specialties

'Michal' mandarin citrus fruit

I recognize that this post is not really about gardening.  I also realize that you readers who are holed up in cold climates may have no  patience with California garden columns.  Citrus, succulents, daffodils in December, year ’round lettuces.  Well, so be it; this is California winter.  This is what I see.

Today I see citrus.  Not your backyard ordinary (for California) navel or Valencia orange, but the kind that are grown for the increasingly specialty markets.  The citrus I saw at the University of California’s Lincove Research Station are for farmers. There is no doubt some of these research specimens will end up sold by nurseries to discerning homeowners, but Lindcove exists to help California farmers. Continue Reading →

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Decidedly Not Wild

pot mum at 2011 california spring trialsFor someone who loves flowers as much as I do, going to the California Spring Trials can be a surreal experience.  It is a trip into the high tech world of germplasm, growth hormones, growth inhibitors, and secret breeding techniques for incredible flowers – that are decidedly not wild.

One of the reasons I blog here at Gardening Gone Wild is to promote  wild, natural, uninhibited gardening, much like my own garden, now at the height of the weed season.  Wild is OK.  We don’t expect perfection. Continue Reading →

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