Flowers Aren't the Only Things in the Garden
by Mickey Maguire
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My wife wanted to go take pictures this weekend, but she asked if we could go some place that has lots of flowers. She loves colorful floral gardens and our recent visit to the Park of Roses during the Rose Festival just strengthened her desire to go looking for flowers to photograph. Well, I have been taking a lot of pictures of flowers, lately, but most parks have a lot more to shoot than just flowers. Yesterday evening we went to the Franklin Park Conservatory in Bexley, Ohio. The conservatory features a large display of day lilies, ground-cover plants, shrubs, a Japanese garden, a bonsai room, an orchid room, and a tropical forest room. I took pictures of day lilies and other flowers, but in this article, I'd like to talk about those "other things" you'll find in many parks.
Franklin Park Conservatory's main building always intrigued me. I loved all of the windows and the framework that holds the structure together. I loved the domed roof, the white doors, and smaller circular domes. The grounds were beautifully decorated. This building is one of the most photographically appealing to me. I put on my Tamron SP AF28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di lens and a 67mm polarized filter and took the shot you see above left. Adjusting the focal length until the image was framed with the trees on both sides, the garden wall and flower pots visible in the foreground and plenty of rich blue sky above, I focused and clicked the shutter. The shot of the sculpture (above right) was taken about two minutes before I took the one of the building. I wanted to show the glare on the metal "sails" and framed the image to capture all three pieces with a break in the trees directly behind the center sail. The polarized filter really brought out that blue sky. There are so many beautiful floral beds in the park that it is often easy to overlook some of the most interesting plant life. I found this little plant nestled among a bed of day lilies and daisies (below). Its spiky foliage is really cool and makes for a good image. I picked out the most esthetically appealing cluster I could fine and took the shot.
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This trip to Franklin Park reminded me of a trip my wife and I made to Ault Park in Cincinnati. There again, the park contained a lot of photo opportunities in addition to the usual flowers, blossoming trees, and other plant life. The main structure at Ault Park has a multi-platformed stairway that includes a cascading waterfall. Between the stairway, bannister, columns, and finials on the ends of the railing, one could shoot the same structure for a good while and capture an array of interesting photos. I took the shot on the left at an eighth of a second shutter speed to make the water looks as though it was flowing.
After taking a bunch of shots at the stairway and cascades, I turned my attention to the statues and large decorative urns throughout the flower gardens. I decided to capture images of the urns to reveal their intricate designs and wonderful textures. I walked away with a bunch of interesting shots.
When you visit a park, walk the grounds. Look for interesting fences, stairways, fountains, garden paths. Look at the shadows cast by any structures or statuary. Look for interesting plants that many people overlook. Almost everyone with a camera will catch the obvious, that spectacular rose, or that perfect lily. They will not even notice the statues, urns, the buildings, even bird feeders.
Don't miss a great photo opportunity, and watch the lighting. You might get excellent results if you wait until the shadows get long and most of the other park visitors have gone home.
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© 2006 Tricorn Publications
