Taking Beautiful Garden Photos

Surprisingly enough, a perfect blue-sky cloudless day is not the perfect set up for taking pictures of your garden.  When the sun is shining directly overhead it washes the color from your garden.  Instead, it’s better to plan to do some garden photography when the weather is less than perfect. Add in some rain, fog, snow, ice, dew, frost and you have the makings of a great photo. The best times to take pictures are the early morning or starting with late afternoon. The “golden moment” is when the sun has started to lower in the sky and the late afternoon light has a gold color that reflects on everything giving it a sense of warmth.
Making light work for you can be amplified when take pictures with the light behind your main focal point. The filtered light can make things look like it is illuminated or luminous, which can give the other worldly look to a plant, flower, or object in your garden. Recent raindrops or dews on leaves can also be ethereal looking say on a lady’s mantle or strawberry plant. Cloudy days work because while diffusing light they eliminate the hard shadows of your focus. Darker storm clouds cause dramatic skies.
You can take garden pictures with all types of cameras. Your focus should be to look at your garden like you were doing a magazine spread. Critically review your garden looking for texture, different types of foliage, and repetition of color from plantings to give your pictures punch. Focus on your garden structures like decks, patios, pergolas, and pools and incorporate them in your pictures, as they add the uniqueness of no two gardens are alike. Be comfortable getting down and taking pictures from different vantage points. Invite others to be in your pictures will give them. Carry your camera wherever you go so you’re ready when you see that great shot.
If you’d like some inspiration, click here to visit our Photo Gallery