New Year
Posted on | January 26, 2012 | No Comments
Garden clubs, camera clubs and botanical gardens ….what a great way to get rid of the winter blahs! Alan and I had the distinct privilege of giving a talk and workshop for the North Country Garden Club ( http://ncgc.org), a Garden Club of America earlier this month. Held at Coe Hall in the Planting Fields Arboretum (http://www.plantingfields.org), it was special from the very moment that Henry Joyce, Executive Director of the foundation, graciously greeted members and guests at the door of the beautiful mansion.
The lecture, Garden Light, was cheery on a very rainy day. The workshop drifted from classroom to greenhouse and back with a very enthusiastic group. The members of the NCGC, like most GCA clubs, are a wonderful audience: knowledgeable, interested and serious about their gardening and photography. While the poinsettias in this photo are probably gone by now, the camellia house will be peak pretty soon. BTW, Don Meyer, a RiverDell High School classmate of Alans took the photo. Thanks Don.
The Ridgewood Camera Club (http://www.ridgewoodcameraclub.org), New Jersey’s largest camera club, provided a trip down memory lane for Alan (he was president in 1985!) when they invited him to speak this month. Established in 1937, the one hundred and sixty (!) members of this club are avid photographers of all types.
A busy time for indoor programs, Alan provided photography tips and advice last weekend at the Caribbean Flower Show in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory at The New York Botanical Garden. He had an opportunity to take a different group of people through the show area each half hour. He will do this again Feb. 19, 20 and 26. Go to http://www.nybg.org for more info.
For those of you already planning your fall schedule, don’t forget the weeklong macro photography class at Maine Media Workshops (http://www.mainemedia.edu) September 9 – 15th. This is an amazing opportunity to photograph gardens, tidal pools, an antique store as well as the gorgeous scenery of coastal Maine.
Sarracenia in the Garden
Posted on | August 2, 2011 | No Comments
During one of our spring trips, Linda and I had an opportunity to visit Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond Va. The rose garden was in full glory but too crowded for photography. On our way to the perennial garden, we walked through the Martha and Reed West Island Garden – an area dedicated to plants of the wetlands. The sarracenia were at peak. Linda and I were truly enthralled by this beautiful collection and decided to return later for a closer look. After taking photos of a few perennials that were not in the strong sun, we headed back to the pitcher plants and found a bench to sit on while we rested and enjoyed the view. It was very hot and the sun was still high but we couldn’t leave without trying to get at least one shot.
I was able to get some nice diffused close-up images but I really wanted to show more of the extraordinary plant collection. It was way too bright to capture the true beauty of the entire area with a wide angle lens so I put on a 70-200mm zoom lens and found a tighter view with a dark background (shade). This allowed the plants to stand out. Sarracenia have a translucent quality so I decided try and shoot the light coming through the plants. We both loved the result.
If you are in the Richmond area be sure to visit this special garden. www.lewisginter.org
A quick reminder
The Chanticleer Master workshop is September 30 – October 2. www.chanticleer garden.org
The Maine Media Macro workshop is October 9- 15 http://www.mainemedia.edu
Garden Photography – Spring
Posted on | June 24, 2011 | No Comments
As promised, here a few of the images from this spring’s outings. A Big Thank You to Sandys Plants and Stonecrop Gardens for allowing us the photograph in their gardens. I hope you enjoy them.
New season, new equipment
Posted on | June 9, 2011 | No Comments
I started this blog way back in April. Somehow, the rain stopped, the weather warmed up, the flowers and gardens took off and it was June before I knew it.
Even though I photograph during the winter, it takes a few spring shoots before I get comfortable with my routine. I need to consciously slow down and think about each image. I determine what caught my interest and how best to capture that image while considering all the technical details. Later in the season, most considerations come automatically but the first outings of spring are filled with opportunities for mistakes. This year, a few pieces of new equipment added yet another challenge.
The first day I was in the garden at 7:00am. It was 34 degrees with gusting wind. While I studied the instruction manual for the new camera body when it arrived, some of the buttons did not do what I thought they should. So, with cold hands, I turned the pages of the Canon manual looking for information on exposure compensation, histograms, info screens and how to change the focus points.
Trying to read camera manuals in the cold is not my idea of a good time. But early in the season is the time to get comfortable with a routine, especially if you have new equipment. Later in the season, when there are lots of possible subjects but less time due to the lighting conditions, you don’t want to waste valuable opportuities while thunbimg through the camera manual. The only thing worse is not having the manual!
I have been out frequently since that first day. The cob webs are gone and the new equipment is exciting. I still have the manual with me but I haven’t referred to it in days. Now I work on adding images to our library and developing a few new demonstrations for the photo workshops.
Linda and I have had an extremely busy April and May. We traveled to gardens in NJ, NY, Ct, Va. and Pa. so far this year shooting for a new project. We were interviewed and featured in a two page spread in 201 Home, a regional magazine. I had the opportunity to judge the Gardening Gone Wild May photo contest ( www.gardeninggonewild.com). The entries were terrific and the comments very rewarding. Be sure to take a look – you might enjoy entering. We also wrote an article on macro photography for the July issue of Birds and Blooms magazine ( www.birdsandblooms.com ) that just arrived in our mailbox . Our gardens are overrun with weeds but we are catching up with them in our spare time.
Next week I’ll post a few images from this spring.
Don’t forget our photography workshops this year:
September 30 – October 2nd: Chanticleer Garden, Wayne,PA., Weekend Master Class with admittance by portfolio review. This is the seventh year that Roger Foley and I have taught this popular workshop . We have lots of repeaters and are already receiving portfolios! www.chanticleergarden.org
October 9- 15th: Maine Media Workshop, Rockport Me. Linda & I are returning to do another week long Macro workshop. This class will give you all the tools you need to get comforable shooting quality macro images. It is a week of intense photography loaded with laughs and good times. Join us if you can. www.mainemedia.edu/workshops/photo
Opportunity in Unexpected Places
Posted on | March 10, 2011 | No Comments
In February, Linda and I had the opportunity to visit family in Naples,Florida. It was a welcome respite from the record snow in the northeast.
After a trip to the newly established Naples Botanical Garden, I noticed a nice selection of plants in bloom around the entrance to our condo. It turns out that Christine, who lives in the ground level condo, is a knowledgeable gardener. We had a nice conversation as she explained that every plant was chosen as a host or nectar plant for butterflies. “We had two monarch butterflies emerge from their chrysalis last week and currently have three monarch caterpillars in the garden.” Christine explained. Up until that day, I planned on getting up at dawn to travel to do some nature photography and there was plenty of opportunity right at my doorstep. I cancelled the dawn trips and set my sights on getting a good selection of monarch image files.
Each day before and after our sightseeing outings, I looked for the caterpillars and tried to find a photo opportunity. The milkweed plant they were feeding upon was next to the stairs making tripod placement difficult – even with the long reach of the 180mm macro lens. Next, finding a subject in a good position with decent lighting was hit and miss. The constant breeze felt nice but made the shutter speed an issue. A small flash unit would overcome the shutter speed problem but also add harsh shadows.
The first day, only the head of one of the caterpillars was visable as it munched away. It wasn’t the typical caterpillar shot but was what was available. Between the stair railings and the windows of the condo in the background, getting into position was difficult. Out of sixty or so exposures from the first session, I kept four that I was happy to call mine.
Over the course of a week, I had four shooting sessions. At the end of our stay, I had caterpillar head shots, full length caterpillars and a few adult Monarchs. All were good additions to the library. Opportunity and patience were rewarded just a few steps from the front door.
Winter Landscape
Posted on | January 30, 2011 | No Comments
The northeast is having a record white winter. As of the end of January, it ranks in the top ten for one month’s snowfall in Central Park in New York City. We have already received over fifty inches. That’s a lot of snow! My preference is about 6 inches of the light fluffy stuff, no wind and clear blue skies. Unfortunately, all the snow this year has buried many of my favorite winter images. The large amount of snow also makes getting around with camera gear that much harder. I did, however, manage to capture some images during the first series of snow storms.
One of the first places I visited early this winter was Skylands, the New Jersey State Botanical Garden (www.njbg.org) in Ringwood, NJ. When I arrived, I drove around the gardens (where permitted) to see if parking the car in one of the designated parking lots and lugging the camera equipment in the freezing cold made sense. A few ornamental grasses, one shrub still with its red berries and a possible arbor shot made the decision easy.
I shot the grasses and the berries and walked on down the road to look at the lighting on the arbor. It had sunlight just touching parts of it with the background bathed in the beautiful late afternoon sun. Usually, I look for side or back lighting to add interest and texture to a scene, but in this case, the front lighting really worked. To my eye, the difference of the quality of the light, from the shadowed side on the left to the warm winter sunlight on the right, captured the winter scene perfectly. I first shot it with a wide angle lens. It didn’t work. There was a road piled with snow that became too pronounced in the bottom of the frame. If I raised the frame, there was too much sky. I put on a 70-200 zoom lens, crossed the road and walked up on a hill. (I am sure that the people walking by were wondering what in the world I was photographing.) I was able to find a happy medium where the forefront, the arbor, the background and the sky balanced.
Not every landcape scene needs to be shot with a wide angle lens. This landscape image shot with a telephoto lens matched my vision and made the cold walk worthwhile.
Dates to Remember: March 8: Perennial Garden Club of Washington DC in McLean, VA, June 12: Workshop at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum in Morristown, NJ, September 30 – October 2: Master Photography Workshop at Chanticleer Garden in Wayne, PA, October 9 – 15: weeklong macro workshop at the Main Media Workshops in Rockport, Maine.
Choosing A Digital Camera
Posted on | January 17, 2011 | 2 Comments
Linda and I gave a program recently for the Short Hills Home Garden Club at the Cora Hartshorn Arboretum (www.hartshornarboretum.org ) in Short Hills NJ. During the Q&A session, one of the attendees asked for advice on purchasing a new camera. I realized this is one of the most frequently asked questions – at programs, via email or from people who have read my macro book. I thought it might be of interest to include some of the considerations that are important when buying a camera.
First, it is a good idea to decide how you are going to use the images. For example, are you going post your photos on the web or are you going to make prints? If so, what size prints will you need? If you are a writer and use your images to illustrate your text or the images are going to be used in magazines or books, that also needs to be considered. Once you have decided the end use, decide whether or not you want the ability to change lenses (a DSLR camera) or if a point and shoot will fill your needs. At this point, figure out what the budget is and see what cameras you have to choose from. The last act and one of the most important in my mind, is to actually hold each camera. Play with the different choices to see if the size of the camera as well as where the buttons and dials are located comfortably fit your hands.
Notice that my big concern after determining the needs and budget is not the brand or the number of mega pixels but instead how the camera handles. To be honest, all the current digital cameras have amazing technology. The differences within any price range or among brands are not major. Most cameras are loaded with features beyond the requirements of many professionals. In the end, however, if holding a camera isn’t comfortable and if the controls are awkward to use, it doesn’t matter what the specs are.
Over the holidays I got to practice what I preach. A cousin called me to get advice on buying a new camera for his wife and I offered to go shopping with him. We established that she wanted a DSLR with two lenses and decided upon a budget. This narrowed the selection down to a Canon or a Nikon package. Both had very good reviews and were exactly the same price. Because it was a surprise, we couldn’t make sure they would fit his wife’s hands but we could play with them ourselves. The nod went to the Canon because all the controls were placed within easy reach of our fingers. The Nikon had some controls that even our larger hands found difficult to use.
A few days after shopping with my cousin, a friend, whose garden I shot many years ago, called to say she lost her camera and wanted to buy something to replace it. When I mentioned making sure it was comfortable, she went “WOW, I never liked how my old camera felt in my hands.” She did not need a complicated camera with multiple lenses but she still needed a “point and shoot” that fit not only her needs but her hands as well.
The serious amateur or professional can easily adjust to new camera bodies but for someone just starting, the layout and handling of a new camera can be a stumbling block. So before buying a new camera, pick it up and have the sales person explain the controls and what they do. See how it feels and if its layout makes sense to you. If not, don’t be afraid to ask to see another possibility.
Ever See a ‘Beltie’ from Galloway?
Posted on | December 14, 2010 | 1 Comment
One day while Linda and I were exploring the Rockport, Maine area, we noticed some unusual looking cows grazing in a field. They looked as if someone painted a stripe of black, then a stripe of white and then another stripe of black. A four-legged Oreo cookie if you will. We subsequently found out these cows were Belted Galloways or ‘Belties’. Originally from the Galloway province of Scotland, they are the star attractions at Aldermere Farm (www.aldermere.org), the longest continually operated herd of Belted Galloway cattle in the USA and a highlight of the Rockport/Camden area of Maine.
As much as I wanted to spend time capturing the Belties images, Linda & I were here teaching a macro class at Maine Media Workshops. Luckily, the photo gods stepped in to help. One afternoon as we were returing from a shooting session with the class, we noticed a group of photographers lined up along the Belties field. They were the macro students not able to pass up a good photo opportunity. Just to be social, I grabbed my camera and tripod and joined in the fun. Then on the last day of class, one of the students complained that he had missed the Belties.This was just the excuse we needed to make a mad dash to photgraph them a second time just before sunset. If you are in the area, don’t miss the opportunity to visit this unusual farm.
Tags: Belted Galloway > Beltie > Camden > Maine > Maine Media Workshop > Rockport
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This blog is dedicated to digital photography, gardens and nature. Information on travel, equipment, dates of future workshops and lectures, new books, tips and blogs we visit as well as pdf downloads may all be included.
