Gardening by the month by Marie Gardner

Enjoy Your Garden in Perpetuity Capture it on Film

 Some days your garden is idyllic, and you wish it could stay that way forever. The blooms are perfect. The birds are fluttering by, pausing for a quick drink in your fountain. The sun is in the perfect position. Perhaps it just rained, or the morning dew is glistening on the leaves.
You can capture these moments! Quick, grab your camera!
The best garden pictures are taken on cloudy, even rainy, misty days. If you must shoot on a sunny day, a polarizing filter will reduce the shine on leaves and help the colors show through. You can also use a flash to soften harsh shadows.

Film Photography
When using print or transparency film, the slower the speed (indicated by a smaller ISO), the better the pictures will be. The color will be brighter, more saturated. High speed films are more expensive and tend to have a grainy appearance and washed out color.
Remember, you are also dependent on a good lab to process the film, so do your research to find the best lab for your needs. Shop around, and use the same lab once you find one that does a good job with your pictures. The most expensive labs are not always the best.

Digital Photography
The advent of digital cameras has allowed for the blossoming of photography. More people are taking more photos of more subjects. A great advantage is that there is no added expense, unless you print the pictures.
You can photograph multiple angles and experiment as much as you want. You can capture a hummingbird in motion by filming it and then viewing the freeze-frames.
Upload the images to your personal computer for viewing or even editing. Simply delete unwanted photos. You can post the photos to a website or email them to friends and relatives.
Regardless of the type of camera you chose, take the time to read the manual for your model. Cameras now come with a huge array of options, and are often not intuitive. You can use manual focus and turn off the red-eye protection. You simply need to take the time to learn how to operate it.

Experiment with the Focus
Even though most cameras nowadays are equipped with fully automatic features, it is fun to turn these off when you are photographing your garden. If you have the automatic focus turned on, everything is in focus. However, you may want to emphasize that one perfect blossom, or a row of plants in a layered garden.

Turn Off the Red-eye
Many people always keep the red-eye protection turned on, regardless of what they are photographing. This is usually not an issue in the garden because timing isn’t critical. The plants aren’t going anywhere.
However, what if you are trying to capture a hummingbird or butterfly feeding? If you think you have the perfect picture, but the final image tells you that you missed the moment, the red-eye protection feature may be the culprit.

Choose Single Flowers Carefully
Plants are fragile, ephemeral and often not as photogenic as they first appear. When inspected at close range, every blemish is highlighted.
To take a perfect flower photograph, examine every bloom closely and choose the best specimen you can. Also, confine close-up flower photography to still days or indoors, where there is no wind to contend with.

Use Your Tripod
The steadier the camera, the better the photo will be. Why concentrate on holding the camera when you should be focusing on the ideal picture? Your pictures will improve drastically when you start using a tripod. It allows you to take pictures at a small aperture, or high F-stop, so more of the picture will be sharp.

Frame the View
Just as you frame the pictures you put up on your wall, many garden vistas are accentuated if they are given a frame. Archways, flanking trees, doorways, gates and openings in hedges can all be used to frame the view, drawing your eye into or out of the garden. Light filtering through an opening can also be used to good effect.
Garden photographs taken looking along a path are often successful because they lead your eye, thereby increasing the sense of depth in the photograph.
Take your time framing your shot. If you have a tripod, you can change the exposure or focal point without changing the framing of your shot, allowing for more artistic photography.

Capture Children in the Garden
No, I don’t literally mean capture, as in lassoing them. The next time you want to have a family portrait, rather than going to a studio, simply retreat to the garden.
What could be more idyllic than photos of children frolicking in a garden? Moments like blowing bubbles, laughing out loud, chasing butterflies or tickling each other are those simple treasures we don’t want to forget as parents and grandparents.

 Marie Gardner has an M.S. in biology and a Ph.D. in education and is a Virginia Master Gardener. Email suggestions for future columns to MGardner@vcu.edu. Please include "garden column suggestion" in the subject line.

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