There was an occasion before where a photographer came here and my role as she took photos was to trail behind, with a towel and dust pan to hand. Every time she identified a subject or frame to photograph, I had to swoop in first to sweep up, wipe, remove a leaf, or rectify a flaw that would have made that shot less perfect. The main reason for rectifying things on the spot was to make each shot as less likely to need photo editing later as possible. Photo editing costs money, and they want to minimise that by correcting things as we went along.
That exercise made me realise how much fakery and over preparation are involved to get most of those perfect shots seen on books, magazines, and television shows.
Which conveys an unrealistic expectation to some, especially beginners that gardening is about the build up to that one perfect moment, like you see in published photos. And that perfect moment lasts a very long time. Both far from truth.
The truth is that gardening is a process to be enjoyed, and so many perfect moments happen within that process to enjoy and savour while they lasted, for some will be fleeting. It could be a moment of perfect lighting, or when plants happen to be all looking good at the same time within the same area, just to name a couple.
So when I take photos of such enjoyable moments, if there is a hosepipe, a secateur, leaf litter here and there, etc I tend not to bother tidying them away to get that 'perfect shot'. They are part of the process, they are the truth and they contribute to making that moment perfect.
Mark :-)
This gardening blog follows our journey as we create our Tropical and Exotic themed garden. We hope you'll enjoy the journey as much as we do. We started our Exotic Garden in 2005 and this site will show its development, as well as our travels, both abroad and within the UK to gardens, nurseries and friends.
Very true, Mark! I admit that I will do a bit of fussing when I'm preparing something like a Bloom Day post (along the lines of cutting off a dead bloom next to one I want to feature) but usually I don't even see the flaws when I'm taking photographs until I ready them to post, when it's too late to fuss. I don't even know how to edit out flaws and probably wouldn't bother if I did.
ReplyDeleteFussing about is part of the fun too, to make your vignette looking its best as possible especially with your wonderful flower arrangements :)
DeleteAnd you've got some perfect moments going on there to my eyes. I admit to excluding the crappier views from my photos but I never actually sweep up or remove leaves etc as you described above. And lets face it, sometimes the dead and fading stuff looks just as cool as the fresh and perfect. There is a certain fantasy effect to the photos of your garden-having not to do with pristeen maintenence but instead with climate illusion.It looks like a proper steamy jungle but I reckon if I was there in spring I'd be wearing a hoodie and my wool socks !
ReplyDeleteThank you Kathy! Same here in that we tend not to highlight areas that are not doing so well or we're not happy with (unless to illustrate as such). And you're right, you would have been wearing extra clothing despite the warm appearance. Even in August here, there can be times that you have to put extra layer of clothing on.
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