Photographing Your Garden, John Bonner, Bonner Photography
We had an excellent and very informative talk at our meeting last night. John began his presentation by advising that this talk could also be called “Tame the Robot”. He explained that when using our cell phones’ cameras, we shouldn’t just accept the photographs that are produced—if the photo is not to our liking, we have a significant amount of control to adjust photos post production.
John’s example photos were taken with an iPhone 13 and he showed us many ways to adjust the colours, depth of field, framing, etc., in order to obtain the ‘feeling’ you want the photo to portray.
He also talked about different ways to approach photographing your garden i.e. try to tell a story, start with wide shots then move in for details like garden ornaments or even old tools—these items are very photogenic. As well as many tips and tricks (such as using a flashlight when there are deep shadows, using a tripod for dusk shots, and looking for and using natural frames), John advised that when printing your photos, you may need to dial up the colour because cell photos viewed on the phone are back lit—and paper is a flat opaque surface.
The photos following are of plants that were on display at the meeting and have been ‘adjusted’ using various iPhone tools. As John mentioned, ‘taking control of our phone’ and learning how to use the many features of these amazing devices, will help us produce excellent and more interesting photos.
