The official first day of spring came and went, but the nights and mornings were still below freezing.
Now, finally, the month of April’s nights have warmed up with days that are actually becoming t-shirt hot and the growth in my garden has just begun.
It’s time to put a flash on a stand, mount a 70-180mm macro lens on my camera and have some fun photographing the yard that is showing a change of colour beyond my front door.
I waited till late afternoon so there would be plenty of shade. I know morning plants are much fresher and many photographers feel the colours are brighter, but I don’t like to struggle in the bright morning or mid-day sun. Yes it is bright and colourful but the cool shade is quiet and welcoming and when there is shade one can choose any angle to photograph the plants, something that isn’t always possible in direct sunshine.
As always, I employ the “High-speed sync” function for flash photography. What that means is I control the depth-of-field with my aperture and the brightness with my shutter’s speed and ignore the flash except when I want to change the angle of light on my subject. I usually want the background to be darker and underexpose one or two stops.
I lucked out and the light breeze that made it comfortable for me to work outside all day disappeared in the afternoon making my plant photos easy. I didn’t even bother to use my tripod.
It is fun to photograph the garden in each new season. Everything changes so much. I will absolutely be out there again in a couple of weeks with my camera, and with luck the spring rains will come and stick around for a bit. I do like to take photos during and right after a downpour.
I spent about an hour wandering in my garden. And even though it hasn’t changed much in the last year I can always figure out a new way to photograph all the different things that poke out of the ground there. Gosh, soon I’d be planting again and I think I will put more bushy plants this year instead of flowers. I do like that people walking or driving on the slow road past my house cannot see me sitting on my porch.
There are still warnings from the British Columbia government on the TV and radio that are telling us citizens to refrain from traveling out of our own locations. I would like to do some visiting, but visits to other towns and places will have to wait. I have been saying for over a year now that photography is a good hobby for creative people that need something to do.
Stay safe and be creative. These are my thoughts for this week. Contact me at www.enmanscamera.com or emcam@telus.net.
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