Photographing plants in the wild

Snowdrops at Altamont Gardens.

As we emerge from our winter caves and think about doing some gardening, inspiration is at hand. The team at Altamont Gardens in County Carlow have been busy preparing for the annual treat which is Snowdrop Week (see link below). I visited Altamont this week to get a sneak preview.

When photographic plants, a 'narrow depth of focus' is required to isolate the plant from it's background. Auto settings won't do this so you'll need to open the aperture to it's maximum (f2.8 in this case). I think this is how we naturally see things, selectively focusing on particular objects and it is straightforward to replicate this in photographs by switching to manual or aperture priority. (Your camera might have a close-up setting which does the same thing). To steady the camera, I rested my arms on a box hedge and knelt on the path to get a low angle for these shots (you need thick skin to be a photographer).

This year Snowdrop Week runs from 11th-18th Feb 2013: See http://www.carlowgardentrail.com for flyer.

Wood ash - Rain stops play

Rain stops play

Still too wet to do much outside of the polytunnel but I've been spreading wood ash around the base of the fruit trees. The potash will help the trees to produce fruit.

See this links for more details: http://masdudiable.com/2010/01/06/wood-ashes-in-the-garden/

I've also found a great source for Irish-grown fruit trees: www.englishsfruitnursery.ie so I'll be ordering a few apple varieties and a Quince to go beside the pond when the ground dries out.