Taking Pictures In Your Garden

When it comes to picture taking, there isn’t a person in the world who has a better opportunity to make fine pictures than someone with a garden. Neither is there anyone who can profit more from it. Photos and gardens go together as neatly as roses and delphiniums. One complements the other like rain and shine, and song and dance.

In my own case, I’ve found this to be true. For some years now I have been taking pictures of my garden and so getting more pleasure from both gardening and my digital images. My pictures aren’t always of professional quality. They are, however, always deeply satisfying to me and apparently a source of wonder to others.

Can anyone make good pictures of the flowers in their garden or landscape? Yes, anyone can if they really want to. But, good photography like success in landscape or garden comes from persistence and a well-established routine.

Just as it’s impossible to have a really good garden without constant gardening, so, too, it’s impossible to make good pictures without constant snapping of photos. And… with digital cameras if you don’t like a picture just delete it.

Mistakes Close-ups and Long Shots

Mistakes will be made, of course. But by studying those mistakes and learning what was wrong, they can be avoided next time and almost eliminated in time. Most garden photography may be divided into two general classes: closeups of individual flowers and arrangements and long-shots or general views of the garden as a whole. Let’s consider the general views first.

Begin by medium film or digital… black and white or color. Color is the smartest way to go because so much of the beauty of any garden is in its color. Black and white images may convey an idea of what the garden looks like but color film, and only color film, adds a different quality and beauty that digital images … in my opinion… do not provide.

Then, select the most attractive angles and when the perfect viewpoint is found, look in front of and beyond the subject, too. Scraps of paper or carelessly dropped garden tools in the foreground or background will distract from the subject and may spoil the effect of even the finest garden.

It’s time well spent to make sure the foreground in the picture is clear and the background attractive and pleasing. If a house, garden shed or some other fixed structure is in the way, don’t give up hope. Try a higher or lower point of view. Very often troublesome objects in the background may be eliminated by manipulating the camera up or down, standing on a ladder, kneeling or lying flat on the ground and then of course there is Photoshop!

Another point to remember is that even in general photography, it is best to stand not too far from the subject. Instead, carefully study the image as it appears in the camera viewfinder. Include in the viewfinder exactly what is wanted in the final picture and no more. Everything else represents waste space.

Waste areas may be eliminated by cropping a picture but there’s no sense in including undesired objects in the picture when they may be easily avoided in the first place.

Add People Add Interest

Next, to add interest, include one or two people in the picture. But, don’t just let them stand around and look at the camera. That is the worst thing they can do.

When people in a picture look at the camera they steal the attention that should be given to the scene. Better results will be obtained if the people are doing something or looking at the flowers instead of the camera. The action centered around the plant or flower will help concentrate interest in it rather than divert the attention from it.

For pictures of large flower beds or general garden scenes, the camera may safely be held in the hands. But, for closeups of one or more blooms, the camera should be placed on a tripod or some other firm support.

In either case, the lens must be focused for the distance from the camera to the subject. Every effort should be made to avoid moving or shaking the camera during the exposure.

Chances are that most people who take pictures of flowers will want closeups. If so, it will certainly be an advantage to invest in a close-up lens or camera with a zoom lens, especially if the camera is of the type that will not focus sharply on objects only 2 or 3 feet away.

Close-ups lens are, in many ways, simple to use but their use requires some care. That’s because camera focus with a close-up attachment is very critical.

The camera must be set on a tripod so that it will remain fixed. Then, the lens should be aimed directly at the subject. The camera viewfinder should not be trusted for picture taking at distances less than 5 feet. This is due to the fact that most viewfinders suffer from “parallax” or the optical inability to see exactly the same field of view as the lens when both are near the subject.

Next, the distance from the lens to the subject should be measured with a tape or ruler so that it is certain it is within the range of the close-up attachment. Although all this takes time and requires care, the results are well worth the extra effort. Now, the picture may be made and it should be good.

As in a long shot of the garden, the background can make or break a flower close-up. Sometimes, not too often, the natural background may be used. Since it is quite likely to be badly broken up by highlights and shadows, however, it is easier, I’ve learned, to push the background leaves and blossoms carefully aside and substitute an artificial background.

Large sheets of colored cardboard that will contrast pleasantly with the flowers being photographed make the best background material. Dark or tinted blue, red, green and yellow cardboards provide an excellent assortment. On many occasions, a sheet of light gray cardboard is very helpful.

Flower Close-Ups

Of course, when taking flower close-ups, the best time is on a day when there is no wind. If pictures must be taken on a day when the wind is blowing, the flowers should be shielded as much as possible, as fast a shutter speed as the light and lens will permit must be used and then the picture snapped during a hill between gusts. Under such circumstances, it may be better to cut the blossoms, carry them to a sheltered, sunny spot where the wind isn’t blowing hard and so is not likely to cause trouble.

Here’s another trick that will pay big dividends in flower closeups. Prop up a sheet of white cardboard (better still, have an assistant hold it) in such a position that it is beyond the range of the lens and yet will reflect light back into the shadows on the flower. This stunt always helps considerably in brightening the shadow side of the subject and produces a better and more attractive photo.

It has been my experience that the best hours for picture taking are when the sun is not directly overhead. Pictures taken during the morning or afternoon are usually more interesting than those taken at high noon because the sun at those hours is casting interesting shadows and sidelights or is backlighting the blooms.

Brilliant sunshine is also, by all odds, the type of light best suited to color photography. Color shots taken in sunshine are bright, colorful and attractive. Color photos taken on days when the sun isn’t clear or when it’s obscured by clouds, invariably have a bluish cast because the light has been filtered through the blue-gray clouds.

Under almost any circumstances flower photography is an engaging and fascinating adventure. In my own case, it helps me remember those things about my garden which impressed me at the time they occurred. It also helps me when memory or visual description fails and when I want to refer to something I did or certain blossoms I grew. I think that flower photography and gardening go perfectly together. Try, yourself, and see if you don’t agree!

by Jerry Field

Related Articles Of Interest:

• The Camera as A Gardening Tool
• Pictorial Gardening
• Iris for Garden Splendor
• Landscaping Designs Ideas – Planning Makes Your Ideas Come Alive

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