Happy Easter 
No (snow) platforming this Easter
Moving in to Spring
Archive | photos and garden photography
Some of our favourite plant and garden photographs not featuring in other gardeners tips. tips for your own garden photography.
Cottage Garden and Annuals Triptych
This is a series of 3 photographs of my favourite cottage garden on Main Street Menston. Late summer each year will see me leaning over the Yorkshire stone wall to admire the ‘gaudy’ collection of flowers that create one enormous display.
Design Features
- The hard landscape is suitably constrained and smacks of belonging to a true plantsman or plantswoman. The red brick from the family home and a small section of slatted paneling limits the borders of this front garden.
- The garden barely needs to borrow from the surrounding landscape but the old grey Yorkshire stone walls add a timelessness to a short lived period of glory from the plants.
- Like my garden this garden suffers from a drain cover in an inconvenient spot but it is as disguised as practical with the wooden hooped barrel used as a plant pot. (How else can they get more flowers on show?)
- The central bed is designed as a lozenge rather than a more normal oval or circle. It works well and allows the gardener access from all 4 sides.
Flowers on Display
- The main feature is not of structural plants or herbaceous perennials but the selection of bright cheerful annuals.
- Wispy Cosmos and Nicotiana edge over the roadside wall on which I lean to take these three photographs.
- Good strong yellow flowers predominate and link the whole composition together. I particularly like the Tagetes, Marigolds and Rudbeckia .
- It would be churlish to mention the grass which is in fair condition towards the end of summer.
Chelsea Blue
I like a good strong blue in the garden and not because Chelsea FC play in a blue soccer strip. With the 2018 Chelsea flower show on the RHS calendar I have selected a few photographs to highlight my favourite colour.
Hydrangea Macrophylla
The faceless pansy can be a substitute for a viola it plays well as a center forward or in midfield.
In goal we must have the African with the furry edged petals in Violet
The B team Allium is just getting back into form after a long layoff. A mid season injury saw a 4 week metatarsal break disrupt his training.
Anemone and Ranunculus in defense occasionally charging down the wings
Hydrangea Red White and Blue Photographs
Photographs from Our 2000 Posts
This is Gardeners Tips 2,000 extant post since April 2008. I have lost count how many photographs and images have been included but here are just a few repeats.
In addition to our own images we would like to thank creative commons and other organisations that helped with contributions as we were starting out.
Around 100 books have been recommended to highlight a subject such as The Garden Photography Workshop by Andrea Jones below.
We would also like to thank the million plus visitors to our website and hope the tips and humour demonstrate how gardening can have a lighter side.
Beat Garden Blues and Bee Happy
Rumour that Bees are in terminal decline is not borne out in my garden this year. The Bees seem very happy on the blue flowers and I am happy as it gives me an excuse to show some more blue photographs (of flowers!).
It is hard to be ‘blue’ when your senses are fully engaged.
- Creating a buzz provides a new sensory experience in the garden and it make a change from the sound of wind and the patter of rain.
- On the other hand I have just felt the pain from pruning a very prickly leaved Berberis that will now have fewer blue berries for the blackbirds later this year.
- The Californian Lilac below is exuding its share of perfume to scent the nostrils.
- I can barely wait for the Blueberry and Bilberry season to deliver the taste of my favourite fruit. I can’t think of a blue vegetable unless you count purple sprouting broccoli but if I have missed your favourite let me know.
- ‘Seeing red’ as a phrase could be replaced with ‘seeing blue’ when you consider some of the great blue flowering plants.
Photography Tips For Gardeners
Think before you Click
- It may seem obvious but think why you are taking a photo in the first place. Is it a documentary record, a social occasion, a personal pleasure or a potential item for publication and wider use.
- Plan your viewpoint and composition using important features and eliminating unwanted items. Framing subjects and using items, even those behind you, may improve the image.
- Do not be tempted to cram in too much detail that causes conflict or unneeded complexity.
- Think about texture, shape, patterns and perspective in addition to the all important colour.
- Check the light and how various shadows will fall. My shadow features in too many photographs
Close up Tips
- Getting close and personal can reveal details of plants not normally inspected such as shapes patterns and colour contrasts. Small sections of a bigger subject can be very interesting.
- It may be necessary to use a tripod to keep the camera still
- Also consider wind breaks as shelter or supporting methods to hold plants still.
- Macro facilities on a digital camera or extension tubes on SLR’s help get really close.
- Use small apertures to get a depth of field. Hold the camera parallel to the most important feature of the photograph.
- Take several shots and be patient
Other Gardeners Photo Tips
- Use low view points.
- Highlight contrasting colours
- Try unusual compositions and repetitions repeatedly.
- Droplets of water on flowers may improve and freshen up the image. Spray drops of glycerine if you are very keen.
- I need to practice what I preach by keeping a record of what, where and when an image was taken and published.
Artistic Gardeners Meadow Vista
Fritillary, Buttercups, Bluebells, Tulips and Narcissus all in the same shot, what more could you ask.
Well the star of this show is probably the grass. The grass is understated and not throttling the flowers. The sunshine is highlighting a grassy area near where the photographer has chosen to stand. The grass stops the mixture of colours and shapes from fighting one another bringing some harmony.
Artistic Comment
The photographer has found a relatively low position to capture the flowers at the front of the photo. The dark trees provide a suitable back drop and contrast. Overall the composition works despite the complexity and variety of the flora. The depth of field allows enough focus highlighting the tulips. The eye of the curious looker is drawn around the image.
The garden designer has composed the image mixing blues, yellows and purples with the spring-fresh greens.The maintenance gardener has enabled the themes to work.
Not quite a meadow more a wild patch created with tlc.
Grewelthorpe Himalayan Garden Images
The Himalayan Garden at Grewlthorpe continues to mature and develop. It is great to see a wide range of trees allowed to grow their natural size without undue lopping or arbo work.
A new arboretum will open at the end of May 2017 and the next autumn season will be worth a special visit.
As ever the sculptures are excellently located and seem to breed in number every time I visit.
Rhododendrons are the key feature for me that makes return spring visits a must.
Landscape views from the many well located paths are set to delight.
What a Pitcher Picture
From pitchers to pictures
