Birds-eye view


Garden photography can be tricky if you're trying to show big picture/design stuff. Close-ups are easy—and beautiful—but they tell you about the flower—which could be anywhere—and not the personality of the garden. I love close-ups, especially for turk's cap lilies, but recently I've been trying to get more big picture shots as well.

One successful method is to get up on a ladder or somewhere else high. I like taking pictures from a second floor window (my husband's study). It gives the false impression that we're mostly pavement, but it does show the tapestry of the different beds. This image shows a good-sized portion of the patio, with the pond and the rose/perennial/lily bed. This raised bed is the bane of my existence. It's not that raised anymore so the plants get their start overshadowed by larger plants and the brick walls of this thing (held together with rebar and wood—a nice engineering job on the part of the former owner). There are also a lot of containers, some of which are shown, most of which are not. Oops, left a deadheading bucket out!

I've also updated my Flickr page; there's a badge at right. It has a lot of shots from this season, and I'll be adding to it.

Comments

Annie in Austin said…
Your garden looks pretty cool from that angle, EAL and your paving is lovely. A bird's eye view might be useful to keep the camera's eye within the garden boundaries. One reason I take so few long shots is that my neighbors' houses end up in the photos.
Our one-story house has no upper windows -guess I should get out the ladder.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Rosengeranium said…
Hm, I'll try a birds-eye view too. Our flat is a two story flat, so I may be able to do it without using a ladder.

I love the layout of your garden! A garden with a pond is what I wish for (and I have to admit that the pond gets bigger and bigger the more I dream).
lisa said…
Nice shot! Much as I like this idea, I positively hate heights, so my pics won't be overheads. But I think an overview is a good idea...gotta get my camera! ;-)

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