- flowers and plants
- landscapes
- street details
- raw materials of food
Two of these initially attracted my attention:
- Flowers and plants because we live not far from the Royal Horticultural Gardens at Wisley in Surrey. I felt that at Wisley I should be able to find the variety of subjects required. I had also noted that English Gardens magazine each month showcases a plant photograph and a photographer from the Garden Photographers Association. I was surprised that such an association existed as I had not considered photographs of plants to be of much interest.
- Raw materials of food because I enjoy cooking and I feel reasonably familiar with the potential subject matter. Also, I was impressed by the assignment 2 portfolio on this subject by "Chickwit" that I found whilst browsing the OCA website. Having learnt something of still life photography at the workshop on studio photography, this would be an opportunity to practice such techniques.
However, I decided that I would choose "flowers and plants" as I felt that this would be more challenging. The occasional photographs of plants that I have taken before starting this OCA course have not generally been very interesting. I also thought that I might have time, if necessary, to change to "raw materials of food" if I was getting nowhere with "flowers and plants".
I used a similar approach to assignment 2 as with assignment 1.
a) I listed the various types of visual elements that are to be included in the portfolio and noted down as many different ways as I could think of of taking photographs of each kind.
b) I listed down the various locations where I hoped to find these subjects. In this case, my list of potential locations within a reasonable distance was:-
b) I listed down the various locations where I hoped to find these subjects. In this case, my list of potential locations within a reasonable distance was:-
- RHS Wisley Gardens: Trees, shrubs, spring flowers, vegetables, temperate and tropical greenhouses.
- Castle Gardens, Guildford: Flower beds
- Loseley Park Gardens, Surrey: Walled vegetable garden
- West Dean House, Hampshire: Trees, shrubs, vegetable gardens
- Ramster House: Trees and shrubs with small lakes
- Allotments: vegetables
- Kew Gardens: Trees, spring flowers, temperate and tropical greenhouses.
c) I have been out taking photographs when the weather has been reasonably bright for the past week. In some cases, I have found the photographs that I was hoping for, but I have taken many more photographs that I had not anticipated beforehand. I have been able to review the photographs after each session to weed out the failures and rejects.
My plan is to evaluate the photographs taken so far in relation to the assignment objectives with the aim of producing a shortlist of photographs for the portfolio. Also, this may show that I need to take some more photographs to fill in any gaps or replace photographs which lack impact.
I have also looked for ideas from a number of sources specializing in plant photography:-
- English Gardens magazine
- RHS Prints
- Kew International Garden Photographer of the Year
- the work of Heather Angel who I note is running a four day course on plant photography at Kew Gardens starting today.
- the photographs and portfolios of the Association of Garden Photographers
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