Years ago I took a Garden Photography class from one of my favorite garden photographers (Clive Nichols) and one of the biggest things that I took away from it was the practice of really examining what was through the lens.  Making sure that something wasn’t sneaking into the picture that was unintentional (top to bottom, left to right), but also examining to see if an adjustment to height, or angle of the camera might yield something altogether more interesting.  It is a lesson in taking yourself and your intentions out of the picture that is easily applied to putting together compositions in when designing.  I always find it useful to take a picture of things – especially when something isn’t working – to help me figure out what is wrong.  Pictures are really honest.

Garden Photographers are people I hold in high regard,  as to me, they often see things that the rest of us overlook.   And really without them, both the pros and the amateurs, this blog would be a whole lot less interesting and the design world would struggle to showcase it’s true talent.   It is because of this, that I want to start featuring more garden photographers for their own sake and not just for the sake of the landscapes that they shoot. My first introduction is Micheal Brown.  He has a stunning blog called Macro Art in Nature where he helpfully passes on tips and trick about taking macro shots.

These two shots of grass in water are starting to make me a little less grumpy about this endlessly hard winter in New England.

Even more interesting to me are some of his landscape shots.  Like these two.  Really really beautiful.

Check him out, hire him to shoot your projects (he is in SC) and definately check out his blog.

And one final thing about landscape photography…I want to share this you tube video that I found utterly amazing (I first saw it on Micheal’s blog) .   It completely relates to this topic…watch it and you will see what I mean….  As a designer who can often block when it comes to rendering, and certainly can’t remember details with out photos and a myriad of other devices, this video inspires me.  We all have our strengths and talents and things we struggle with.