Back to School: Hands, Knees and Bumps-a-daisy

My Garden School logo

I'm 10 days into my online photography masterclass with Clive Nichols and My Garden School and I've had an enjoyable time crawling around my garden in a hands, knees and bumps-a-daisy fashion, in search of photos to illustrate my learning from the first two lessons.

There's been some frustrating technical glitches in getting into the school's classroom, so much so we've been given the option to defer our class until next month, plus an offer of a 25% discount on a further class if it's taken up by the end of the year. I've decided to crack on with things for now, though I may change my mind later if it continues.

In this post I'll look at the first lesson, Lighting for Flower and Plant Photography.

Photography masterclass lighting collage

The collage above shows some of the results which didn't make it into the set I submitted for assessment.

Clive's lesson discussed the main types of light used in photography namely:
  • Soft, diffused light
  • Window light
  • Bright sunlight
  • Back lighting
  • Side lighting

We were then encouraged to explore further by taking some photographs to illustrate the different types of light available. Sunday morning provided perfect conditions, though I left window light for later as I see it'll be discussed further in a future lesson.

I then selected and submitted my 3 photos for assessment, to illustrate at least two of the different types of light. I also had to write a 50-100 word summary of each shot, to include my own critique of whether or not I thought they were successful.

I'd say the half hour lesson + taking photographs in my garden + selection for submission + write-up took me about 4 hours to complete.

I'll leave you with the three photos I submitted for you to see for yourselves without my critique or Clive's remarks. Note, I'm happy with just one of them, which one do you think it is?

1. Rambling Rector - Back lit


Rambling Rector leafs and stem backlit

2. Ivy - Side lit


Ivy side lit

3. Erigeron - Diffuse lit


Erigeron diffuse lit


Coming up next: Lesson 2 - Composition

 Previously: Back to School - my introductory post

Update: Happy Mouffetard wrote a great post showing the difference front, side and back lighting can make to the same subject.

 Disclosure: I'm taking the course for review purposes as a guest of My Garden School. Views are my own and there are no cookies or affiliate links associated with this series of posts.

Note the discount code shown at the top of this post is only valid until 7th October 2015.

Comments

  1. CJ13 September 2015 at 08:55

    Wow, lovely shots, I'm glad you're enjoying the course. I'd be happy with all of those if I'd taken them, the backlit rambling rector is particularly striking. And I'm very pleased to see the last one, I can put a name to that pretty flower that I've been seeing everywhere this year now! It looks gorgeous growing out of the stone. And I love the pink flower at the bottom right of the collage, lit up so beautifully in the sun. CJ xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP15 September 2015 at 11:31

      Thanks CJ and I'm glad I've put a name to a plant for you. It's a fabulous for knitting plantings together as well as softening hardscaping like I'm using it for.

      Delete
  2. Sue Garrett13 September 2015 at 10:34

    I like the first one first the most tooI have always considered taking a photography course but I would want to know how to use of the settings etc. the more technical side I'm not too bad on composition etc I think having to write about the photographs is to much like school for me. I spent most of my life in school and have left that behind me now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP15 September 2015 at 11:34

      Hi Sue, I still have nightmares about exams at the start of summer, decades later! Luckily the writing up part takes relatively little time. I'd say looking, experimenting and thinking about photographs is the central core to what this course is about. And that means lots of time spent in the garden, which is a good thing in my view :)

      Delete
  3. Sarah 13 September 2015 at 10:54

    I think I've learnt more than I ever knew just by reading the course summary and requirements so thank you for the link. My favourite of your three photos is the ivy. I like the 3D flower heads against the soft diffused background. I do like the back-lit Rose leaf and thorn too but not as much and you seem to have captured a blob of light too which detracts from the photo I think. Gosh I'm being very critical but just by looking and thinking in these last few minutes I feel I've learnt so much. Erigeron growing out of stone is a match made in heaven in my eyes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP15 September 2015 at 11:37

      Hi Sarah and welcome to Veg Plotting! I'm so pleased you've found this post and the link useful. The blob of light is lens flare and shows I need to buy a lens hood for my camera. I had an even better shot compositionally of the rose, but the lens flare was so bad, it became the main subject of the photo! I have no problem with your critique - it's great that you're looking at the photos and thinking about what works and doesn't.

      Delete
  4. Lea13 September 2015 at 13:11

    In the group that didn't make it, the first one is beauty! And I like the side-lit tomatoes (or maybe I just love tomatoes!). Of the three you submitted for the class, I like the first one best. At first I just noticed the leaves. Then I noticed each thorn is lit up, too! The round bit of light in the background doesn't bother me. The last one seems to me to be more of an example of combining (for lack of technical terms) hard and soft elements in a photo.
    Thanks for sharing your lessons with us
    Hope you are having a wonderful day!
    Lea

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP15 September 2015 at 11:40

      Smaller pictures hide a multitude of sins, Lea! That first photo would have been a favourite of mine too, except I can see it's not sharp enough when I look at a much larger version of it. I need to play around with my aperture settings more, and also try manual focus for these shots.

      Delete
  5. Anna13 September 2015 at 19:55

    Oh that sounds a fabulous course to be taking VP and you could not really ask for a better teacher! I hope that the technical issues are soon sorted. Not quite the same but I've just signed up for a photography interest group with our local newly formed U3A which I'm looking forward to starting soon. Mmmmmm - I'm not sure which photo you were happy with so will wait to find out in due course.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP15 September 2015 at 11:41

      I love the sound of your U3A group Anna. I must see if there's something similar locally...

      Delete
  6. Brian Skeys14 September 2015 at 22:30

    I am going to guess the Ivy. Photography is a wonderful complimentary hobby to gardening.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP15 September 2015 at 11:42

      I got into photography well before gardening, Brian. I'm pleased I can combine the two, and blogging helps with that as well as it's the perfect excuse to go into the garden and see what's happening :)

      Delete
  7. Janet/Plantaliscious15 September 2015 at 09:30

    Oooh interesting! I am a sucker for backlit subjects and rather enjoy the flare effect, but the ivy photo captured the texture of the flower heads beautifully, so I am going for #2... What a lovely course to be taking, I will enjoy reading about your experience, maybe one day I'll get down to tackling something like that too, though I know it will mean getting up early all too often...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP15 September 2015 at 11:46

      Getting up early isn't so much of a problem at the moment Janet as dawn is around half past seven. I went out into the garden at 8.30am to start taking this set of photos. I'd say September is a good time for this course - not to early a start for photographs, still plenty of interesting plant material around, even in my smallish urban garden, and a good chance of some good weather and varied lighting conditions.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous15 September 2015 at 11:16

    I'm guessing the backlit rambling rector. For me, the background of the ivy is just a bit too busy to let the shapes shine. This is great fun. Not surprising, though, how much time it takes - I always find a fierce wind gets up the moment the camera comes out!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP15 September 2015 at 11:47

      I thought the ivy's background was borderline distracting and it's interesting to see how its divided opinion. The strength of the background is it has lots of echoes of the shapes of the main subject. I need to experiment with aperture to soften them more to get the effect I had in my mind's eye.

      Delete
  9. VP15 September 2015 at 11:53

    Confession time - my favourite is the Erigeron. This is a picture I've been wanting to take for ages as I have a post on 'softening corners' in the garden on my To Do list. I love the composition of the Rambling Rector, but the lens flare lets it down badly - if I could have got a bokeh effect instead (those tiny bubbles of light you get in some photographs), then I think that would have worked well. Also, the thorns aren't quite in focus - if I'd got that right (as I did in the unseen photo with the even bigger lens flare), the backlighting would have added lots of drama to those thorns. I like the ivy too, for the reasons those of you who've said you like it best have outlined. However, I need to make the main subject jump out from the background more.

    Thanks so much for your comments, it's been a great discussion :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. VP15 September 2015 at 11:56

    I'm happy for further thoughts, so please keep them coming. There's no right or wrong answer and there's already a lot of variety in our opinions and preferences.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Caro20 September 2015 at 19:32

    I'm rather late in catching up with this post and the comments so there's no surprise for me! However, and I know it's a cliché, but I would have voted for the Erigeron. For me, the first photo was too hazy and needed more depth of field to bring the stem as well as the leaves into focus. I agree with you about the ivy; the background detracts focus from the main subject - a shame as the side lighting on the ivy globes is excellent and gives a good 3D effect to the subject. I've enjoyed reading this post and comments - sounds like a good course that you're getting a lot out of. What a pity that discount isn't extended to your readers as well!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP21 September 2015 at 12:48

      Hi Caro, thanks and your thoughts match mine :) There is a discount code for readers - that's what the badge is all about at the top. 15% until Oct 7th, though you might want to have a chat to me about it first (broad hint and wink)!

      Delete
  12. Angela M - Garden Tea Cakes and Me21 September 2015 at 10:16

    I would be happy with all of them although I do like the side lit Ivy. Off to catch up on your next post!

    Angela - Garden Tea Cakes and Me

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP21 September 2015 at 12:49

      I need to tot up, but I think there's a pretty even split on which photo is favourite. That's rather good to know and suggests I selected the right 3 for the assessment :)

      Delete

Post a Comment

I love hearing from you and welcome thoughtful conversations :)

Comments aiming to link back and give credence to commercial websites will be composted!

Your essential reads

That blue flower: A spring spotter's guide

Image
Spring is a prime time for blue flowers and my daily walks currently have several from the same plant family* lining the local footpaths. As I walked past the Donkey Field the other day, I overheard some children ask their parents** what the pictured blue flower was. It reminded me it's often mistaken for those other familial blues and this time was no different, as they said it was forget-me-not, instead of the green alkanet it actually is. As well as similar flowers, most of these plants are hairy in their nature, flower around the same time, and favour damp, shady places. Many of them are great for pollinators too, especially bees and this week's warm weather has certainly drawn them to these flowers. This makes it even more likely for these plants to be mistaken for each other and it's a great opportunity for me to put together a spotter's guide in case you find the same flowers on your outings. Staying with green alkanet, the key features which set it ...
Read more

Jack Go To Bed At Noon

Image
Last year this rather exotic looking flower appeared on mine and several other allotments for the first time. Having been stumped (again) by Mr Allotment Warden as to its identity, I rushed home to find out what it was. It's salsify, aka the marvellous Jack Go To Bed At Noon - named as such because its flowers always close by midday. Here you can see both open and closed flowers - making it seem even more exotic and alien than in the first picture. I think this must be the cultivated version because the flower in my Francis Rose Wild Flower Key looks exactly the same in form, but is bright yellow in colour and called meadow salsify . Its other common name is Goatsbeard, which must be a nod to the fantastic dandelion-like clock which forms the seed head. With 'parachutes' like those shown above, who knows how far our plotted plants came from. I rather like the photographic dissection of the seedhead found in this link . Salsify is edible: its lateral shoots and fl...
Read more

Red Nose Day - Gardening Jokes Anyone?

Image
The nation goes ever so slightly bonkers on Red Nose Day - hurrah! Previously, it's been very easy to join in - usually via a dress down day at work plus lots of people up to mad things at the station and in the office. Everyone smiling for once - it's a real feel good day and all in a good cause. This year's different - every day's a dress down day for me now - my friend L suggested yesterday that perhaps I could have a dress up day instead and whilst that's a good idea, I confess that ballgowns and tiaras don't really feature in my wardrobe: scruffy student's always been my favourite look. So my Red Nose Day contribution for this year is to compile a list of gardening related jokes. For each one (clean ones only please) you leave in the comments below, I'll make a donation of 50p to the cause. Here's a few for starters just to get you warmed up: Q Why do potatoes make good detectives? A Because they keep their eyes peeled. Q What did the grape...
Read more

Salad Days: Mastering Lettuce

Image
I've decided one of my salad challenges for this year is to grow as many lettuce varieties as I can, ready for the publication of my planned Factsheet* later on. The idea is to grow as many of the Tried and Trusted lettuce varieties last year's Salad Challengers helped compile, then provide a visual guide and as many lettuce facts as I can muster. So far I've found around half of those listed**. Then naturally whilst I was out searching - because such is the way with seeds - a number of other varieties found their way home too ;) A couple of weeks ago I sowed 22 varieties***. Just the simple act of sowing them has me intrigued. Why are some lettuce seeds black and others white****? They split into about half white to half black in my sample and as far as I can tell it's nothing to do with whether they're a type of cos, iceberg, or whatever. I sowed them indoors and popped them into a propagator on the windowsill. The soil's too cold outside for sowing ...
Read more

VPs VIPs: Derry Watkins of Special Plants

Image
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Derry Watkins at her home, garden and nursery - the acclaimed Special Plants - just a few miles along the road from me. I first met Derry at one of her open garden days last year and was keen to find out more about her wonderful garden and running an independent nursery. She specialises in tender perennials and regularly goes on plant hunting trips to find new treasures, particularly in South Africa. As well as running Special Plants and opening her garden under the NGS scheme , Derry holds day courses at her nursery, hosts Special Tuesdays from April until September, lectures and has written a couple of books. How did you find your way from Connecticut to the UK? I'd started a biodynamic vegetable garden in Connecticut and we used to have people come along at weekends to help out. A particular young man turned up: he returned many times and at the end of the summer I married him. So it was all down to love? Isn't that the...
Read more

#mygardenrightnow: heading into summer with the Chelsea Fringe

Image
Ahhhhhh, that's better! I love walking through dewy grass in bare feet, not that there's much in the way of grass on my back lawn this weekend. My wild and woolly lawn has morphed into meadow of sorts this month, which even NAH admits looks attractive*. It's also proved a great source for my Flowers for mum project so far, yielding self-sown perennial cornflowers, lamb's ears, and lemon balm in addition to the blooms you can see. These originated from elsewhere in the garden, the ox-eye daisies must have blown in from the A350 nearby. * = he got very stroppy about the weeds aka self-sown foxgloves in the lawn one year, so he's come along a bit since then. Skimble's demanding to say hello to you too. He does enjoy the patio when it warms up. If the embedded video doesn't work try this link instead. The Nectaroscordum are a revelation. I planted the bulbs around 2 years ago, but it's only this year they've bloomed properly. The bee...
Read more

Make Use of Mildew

Image
On my garden patrol this morning I spotted some powdery mildew on a couple of my new Verbena bonariensis plants. I suppose it was almost inevitable as I prefer to grow my plants hard - this means no water for them unless they look absolutely desperate. This approach means plants root themselves more deeply and have a better chance of survival during spells of dry weather like we've had lately. However, it also means I run the risk of problems like today's, especially with any garden newbies planted late in the season. We've had a good drop of rain overnight, so this should help my plants survive. I'll mulch them later today to help lock in the moisture as it's water stress which encourages the mildew to take hold. I've also removed the infected leaves and sprayed the rest with a milky drink.* I'm also pleased to find there's a use for my infected leaves. Oliver Ellingham at Reading University has started a PhD - sponsored by the RHS - researchi...
Read more

The Resilient Garden

Image
  Part of Tom Massey's Resilient Garden at RHS Hampton Court I've been pondering VP Gardens a lot lately. Last year's drought conditions set me off initially, then our harsher than usual winter combined with this summer's flip and flop weather means the thinking continues. It's a huge topic which I freely admit I'm struggling to get my head around. Tom Massey's Resilient Garden  at Hampton Court recently  tackled this topic brilliantly and was a timely interlude which gave me much food for thought. There he encapsulated the detailed research he'd found which informed both his show garden and book of the same name. I think it's one of the most important show gardens I've ever seen. It's clear the way I garden needs to change so that I have my own resilient garden. I haven't worked out the exact details yet, but Tom's book plus a couple of others (see below), alongside the rainwater management handout from the show garden's  sponso...
Read more

Chelsea Fringe 2014: Shows of Hands - Episode I

Image
The gloves NAH used to build the raised bed . The effects are L to R, top to bottom:  Original photo, Warhol, HDR, Green tint, B&W, Posterize, Boost, Cross process and Sepia Welcome to Shows of Hands - my Chelsea Fringe project for 2014! As you can see I've been having a bit of a play around in Pic Monkey for my first contribution. You're welcome to join in between now and 8th June 2014. The idea behind this year's project is to highlight the tool most precious to a gardener: their hands. How do I take part? It's simple. All you need to do is take a photo of hand(s) in a gardening context and then share it via your blog or other social media (such as Twitter or Facebook), then make sure I know you've done so. I've set up Mr Linky below for your blog contributions. The Chelsea Fringe photo on the right sidebar links to this post, so you can easily find it again when you're ready to add your contribution. If you share your photo on Twitter, ...
Read more

Testing Times: Tomatoes

Image
  I've run a couple of tomato trials this year. The first is a revisit of the biochar trial with Oxford University I attempted some years ago (with a different organisation this time), and the second is a trial of a water gadget called Plantsurge which I was given to try at Malvern Spring Show earlier this year. Most of you have probably heard of biochar already and the claim that this inert, carbon-rich material can help soil fertility and plant health. The RHS information in the above link says results can be mixed, with reduced effects found in alkaline soils. This may help to explain the lack of difference I found in my previous trial as VP Gardens is on a lime-rich soil. Plantsurge is a different beast altogether. It's a strong magnet which is attached to a hosepipe as shown in the photo above. It's claimed that it softens water, with the result more like watering with rainwater. The higher nitrogen found in rainwater is thought to be beneficial to plants. Gardener...
Read more