ORDER OUT OF CHAOS

I thought I'd do something different this month. I have chosen beautiful 210-acre Garvan Woodland Gardens (GWG) in Hot Springs, Arkansas as the backdrop for my tips this month. In any gardens like these, it is easy to become overwhelmed. There is so much to see, so many plants, flowers, landscaping, etc. Where do we start? What do we photograph? Where do we aim our camera?

Have you ever felt that way during your travels or weekend getaways? Now this might sound strange, but when it comes to photography, the eyes see too much. We need to reign our eyes in through a technique I call "scanning." I spend a lot of paragraphs on this in my book Right Brain Photography. Today I will just give you an abbreviated version of this approach.

If we try too hard, it will be too hard. By that, I mean there is an easier way. What I do when I encounter those OMG scenarios is to scan the area within my view. At this point, I don't even worry about the entire park or gardens--that's way too much to swallow. I follow my intuition and let it guide me. I don't doubt it; I just follow it. If I sense there might be something over there I simply walk over there and check things out. So, what am I looking for once I get "over there?" I don't photograph subjects. I look for color, shapes, lines, design, and even mood. Sometimes I get certain feelings from a place or a subject I see. The actual scenario or subject(s) become secondary. I obviously see it, but I look much deeper than what the eyes see.

I have been to GWG four times, so far. The following are extracts from those visits.

The first thing I do when I visit a place like this for the first time is to get a map, ask the staff to show me the highlights, and I also ask them if there are any features, displays, or current blooms that are out this time of year. 

One of the highlights in the gardens is this waterfall area. I don't do usually do HDR in nice open areas like this, but this particular day, at this sight, I was getting an extremely wide dynamic range of lighting, more than my camera could handle. My rule of thumb with HDR-created images (combining 2-3 images to create a single image) is to not make them look "HDRed." I don't like that "illustration" or "architectural rendering" look. That's why I never combine more than three images.  

I saw this bridge from several yards away, but didn't like the surroundings I saw from that distance. I kept walking toward it, carefulling seeing how the surrounding environment changed as I walked. I was looking at how the areas to the left, right, and behind the bridge were looking as I got closer. I liked the design of the bridge, but was looking for the best surroundings that complemented the bridge. All of a sudden, there it was! As I got close to the bridge I knew that was my shot. It was like a life metaphor. I like scenarios that give me what I call that "scene from a novel," used by authors to describe a feeling, a goal, a promise. 

A few years ago, the 'Gardens commissioned an architect to design a million-dollar "tree house" would fit in with the theme of the garden. As you can see from the image below, it works. 

All photos I had seen were of the treehouse itself, hovering above the gardens. However, when I saw it, I noticed that the designers had included an engraved space under the treehouse that replicated theme of "tree" house. The walkway I was standing on was too close to the scene. I had to use a 10 mm wide angle lens to capture it all.

This is what I call extracting. I extract something I'm "working on" and eliminate the rest, that is, I ignore everything else in order to better focus on the results I want.  

   

One of the highlights of these gardens is Bridge of the Full Moon. The trick is to find the best perspective. I wanted more than just a "smart phone" picture of it. After scanning the scene, I saw this. It didn't hurt that the scene was sprinkled with spring colors. The "smart phone" picture would have been of, well, just the bridge. However, I wanted to incorporate the essence of the environment in which the bridge was built--the creek, trees, plants, hillsides.   

A Japanese garden is a must for any decent gardens. There is one in Portland, Oregon, in Denver, Colorado, and at Garvan Woodland Gardens. For this scenario, my goal was to capture the garden, the koi and its surroundings. Again, the spring colors added the exclamation point. 

All the principles I use to create my compositions were present that day. However, I had to be patient for some of those principles to come together. I wanted fish to fill in that empty lower right-hand corner (containment). It took several minutes of waiting patiently for the most colorful koi to swim in that specific corner. The other composition principles which I incorporated were: the small green tree on the lower left and the small white trees on the left (containment), the curving stone path (leading line), the big white tree (balances out other areas in the scene. The center of interest was the entire scene.  

You can't visit GWG without at least walking into Anthony Chapel. It is one of three glass chapels in the state. There are two others in the U.S. outside of Arkansas. It is a big chapel, so be sure to take a wide angle lens--at least 18 mm. You will also need a tripod, or a camera that will give you great images at high ISOs. If shooting without a tripod, a lens with vibration reduction will come in handy. 

Not far from the chapel is a beautiful five-story bell tower. In order to amplify it's surreal qualities, I put my camera on the ground and shot straight up at it, then converted the image to B&W. I used a 10mm-24mm lens, set at 10mm.

There is even a little cave you can walk into. Shooting from the inside looking out, you definitely will need some degree of HDR. I used three images to get this one. I wanted to keep the inside darker than the outside to make it look the way it looks and feels when you're in there. 

Photo enthusiasts who have taken my classes or workshops know that I can't be on a photo shoot without creating my right brain photography  During one of my visits to GWG, I saw a section that had an endless sea of colorful tulips. Absolutely beautiful. I created several images that day, but this one gave me the best feel of what if felt like when surrounded by and immersed in color and vibrance. This is an in-camera double exposure.

   

I hope I have given you some ideas, techniques, and approaches to take with you next time you visit a botanical garden, arboretum, or Chinese garden. What I shared with you is a portion of my I.S.E.E. SOMETHING paradigm--use your Intuition, scan, extract, and eliminate everything around you to help you focus. 

Don't get overwhelmed, stay focused, and, most importantly, have fun!

Contact me if you would like a 1-on-1 ZOOM lesson.  

vegaphotoart@gmail.com