This time last March I wrote about flowers as portraits, and discussed my indoor makeshift studio setup using modifiers like reflectors, umbrellas and softboxes to photograph potted plants.
This year I decided to put my winter boots on and wander out in the sub-zero, snow-laden garden outside my front door to see what interesting features I could discover.
As I have written before, I prefer using flash and the waning March light at 7 p.m. was perfect for my off-camera flash equipped with a shoot-thru umbrella.
I really don’t care what time of year or the weather, I like photographing the plants and flowers in my garden. Shrubbery, weeds, and vegetation in general always make for fun subjects.
Plants are so much easier to photograph than people, plants don’t get tired, nervous or jittery, and always are happy to wait for me. Maybe that’s why I like photographing flowers, they (almost) always cooperate.
This time my goal was to photograph anything that caught my eye.
It didn’t matter how the late afternoon light was, because I had my key light with me. Relying on ambient light is so troublesome, and I knew that the only way to give my subjects “pop” and reduce deep shadows caused by sunlight was to use flash.
The slowly dimming light was perfect for my sojourn through the garden. I easily metered the ambient light, then under exposed slightly so the flash would become the main light instead of the late afternoon sun. The soft modified light from a shoot-through umbrella was even across the image with a gradual transition from highlights to mid-tones to shadows.
The snow was deep, and more than once it filled my boots as I trod off the packed down path. However, there were lots of things to photograph so I didn’t care.
Branches and sticks poking out of the snow, shadows along the fence, a rusty old wagon wheel, the red leaves of Oregon grape, weathered boards, dead and dried out flowers, and as the sun sunk below the mountains, a light bulb hanging from the snow cover above my car.
I was enjoying myself so much that I texted my friend (Jo lives down in the valley and across the river from me) and suggested she grab her camera and join me.
We took turns holding the stand mounted flash and finally, when it was too dark to see things and we’d finished our photographic, we went inside to load our images on my computer and warmed up with a glass of red wine as we looked over the pictures we had just taken.
As I have written before, I photograph my garden in every season.
I know there are many photographers that only take pictures of plants when they are in bloom and prefer colourful representations. However, spring, summer, fall, winter, snow, rain, sunny, or overcast, my garden is filled with ever changing subjects that always offer something new.
As always, my advise to photographers that think they must wait for inspiring weather before their next garden safari is, – there’s always something to photograph no matter the weather or the season, just get up close and look for the small stuff.
These are my thoughts for this week. Contact me at www.enmanscamera.com or emcam@telus.net. Stop by Enman’s Camera at 423 Tranquille Road in Kamloops.
I sell an interesting selection of used photographic equipment. And if you want an experienced photographer please call me at 250-371-3069.
