greentapestry : What happened when .....

Tuesday 6 July 2010

What happened when .....



~ I attended a creative plant gardening and photography workshop. I still get ridicously excited by late presents and recently enjoyed a belated Christmas gift. Himself having kindly treated me to a new camera at Christmas threw in an extra ~ a one day creative photography workshop which I attended a couple of weeks ago. The workshop was held at Bluebell Cottage Gardens/Lodge Lane Nursery where I have attended a couple of workshops previously on the subject of plant propagation.



Venturing onto a photography course was a new venture for me and I was somewhat apprehensive before I arrived. When chosing my new camera I debated long and hard whether to enter the realms of a DSLR. However after much reading about the subject and with welcome and valuable advice from fellow bloggers Karen, Shirl and the Garden MS S I decided that this would be too big a step for me. Instead I went for a more sophisticated compact camera which has a seemingly bewildering array of fiddly bits, bells and whistles on it. I was hoping to be more familiar with all the bits and bobs before the course but as usual the best laid plans of mice and men ......... Luckily there were only five of us there on the day and it was a most non threatening environment. Our tutor Andrew Williams was a former engineer who had gone into photography later in life.



The morning whizzed by quickly as Andrew delivered a well illustrated presentation to us - some of it went over my head being of a somewhat technical nature but other bits registered and have been digested. Then a quick tour round the garden so that we knew its layout. We were asked to think about possible shots that we might like to take and or a theme that we would like to concentrate on. After an al fresco lunch we were let loose in the garden and nursery to take photos to our hearts content. Luckily the course was held on a day when the garden and nursery are not open to the public so we did not have to contend with people popping up everywhere. Back then to base, where Andrew downloaded a few of our respective photos so that we could get some constructive criticism from the rest of the group. I left feeling more confident about my new camera and certainly picked up a number of useful hints and tips, including suggestions of reading material and websites. I will include these in another post later this month. In the meantime I am off to have fun putting my new found knowledge into practice.

13 comments:

  1. Anna, this is what I need, great to see a course designed for photographing a garden. Looking forward to your next post.

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  2. How interesting when I bought my camera last year I dithered around thinking about a DSLR but was scared off by the lens and technical terminology. I have a pretty good compact camera now but only use two settings and know I should read the manule to get the best out of it but it leaves me cold. Looking forward to your post about reading as could do with some pointers on how to get more out of my camera

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  3. What a fabulous present - I'm very envious!

    You've brought back some lovely photos too, if the three in this post are representative! I especially like the middle one - a lot of panorama-type photos look flat (flowers at the bottom, any other flowers hidden behind them, sky or hedge or whatever above), but you've managed to make that one look much more three dimensional, with the flowers throughout.

    And you've reminded me that I need to read my camera manual too - I've got so used to using it on auto, I keep forgetting it's got bells and whistles (doh)

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  4. Anna, You learned well - I love all of those shots (especially the poppies!) - will look forward to seeing MORE!

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  5. I just love the combination of blue and orange in the last photo.
    Looking forward to see your new photos.

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  6. What a wonderful present, not only the camera but the course teaching you how to use it. I'm so lazy when it comes to reading manuals, I must admit that I only ever use my camera on auto mode. Will you be sharing which camera you decided on?

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  7. Anna, what fabulous images, the middle one has great depth of field and the colour in all of them is really vibrant.

    What fun to go on a course like that. Himself is very good!!
    K

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  8. Anna, good for you! Great pictures and a very good tip (for me) - read manuals!I managed to lose my camera's manual...

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  9. What a great present Anna, one I could really do with myself. Have to agree about the manual - up until I read mine there were basically two settings that I stuck to. Feel a little more confident now but would love a course like that - especially concentrating on plants etc. Can't wait to see more of your lovely photographs.
    P x

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  10. Hi Anna

    You'll know when you've cracked it when you use words like composition...

    Good luck with the camera, it's hugely enjoyable, but reading the manual, well I tried an nearly lost the will to live.

    I look forward to the pending web sites and stuff

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  11. I bet a lot of it was about lighting, am I right, Anna? This is my biggest issue.

    I'm sorry I've missed so many of your blog posts. It sounds like things are going well for you.

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  12. Hi again Anna, delighted to hear that you are happier with your new camera now. You got some wonderful shots on your course. That was a great gift. Enjoy taking lots of shots over the summer :-D

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  13. Last year when I got a new camera I debated getting a DSLR too and decided it was too complicated for me right now. Even compact cameras have enough things to figure out.
    The class sounds like so much fun! Your pictures are beautiful!

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All your comments are much appreciated and treasured. I wil try to reply to everyone who leaves a comment, but it may take me a few days, especially when I start spending more time in the garden and at the lottie. I know that you will understand :) I am sure that I will also visit your blog if I have not already done so. If you have any specific questions I will either reply to them here or you can email me at : thegreentapestry@gmail.com

Namasté

- Anna.