Advice For New Garden Bloggers~Three For Thursday

I'm joining Cindy of My Corner of Katy, with a Three For Thursday post. Cindy says it best~"Pick 3 pictures of plants from your garden ... tell us about 3 books you've read that you want to share ... rant about 3 things that bug the heck out of you ... show us 3 pieces of garden art or 3 photos of egregious crimes against gardening ... have fun, be creative and leave me a comment when your post is up!"



Here's three pieces of unsolicited advice that came to mind as I was taking my morning stroll through the garden...I forget these three things often enough that I decided to share them with you. You will notice that the advice is limited, the photos, not so much! gail


1. Always take your camera with you into the garden, on errands and especially on visits to other gardens. Even when you're just running out to get the mail. That's when the butterfly you've chased around the garden all day is posing sunning on the cup plant or the light is "just so perfect" you want to cry from the beauty. I can't tell you how many good opportunities I've lost because I left my camera on the dining room table.
Luckily for me, my camera was in hand when I spotted this bee on the Blue Lobelia ~From this angle it looks like the usual wonderful bumble visiting a flower to feed. A side shot reveals~
He's fast asleep and hugging tight, the next morning bright and early he'll be gone (more here about sleeping bumbles) If you're feeling brave, you can gently pet the sleeping beauty.

Trust me, once you get into the habit of taking your camera into the garden every time you head out, you'll capture some of your best shots and you'll almost never forget where you set it down.



2. Don't be afraid to break photography rules.
Shoot into the sun~you will find some of your best shots come from the glare off your lens, the back lit grasses or the silhouetted flowers.

Photograph anything and everything. Take dozens of photographs, try all the settings! Shoot in the dark, take shots of the fog, use the flash...
Have fun with your camera.

3. Don't chase perfection~Hoses, bags of mulch or any evidence that your garden is a working garden is a fact of life. Don't apologize...Sometimes the best shot, the one that conveys what you want to share includes a telephone pole, garden tools or isn't completely in focus. Unless you're entering a photo contest~none of your readers really cares about your garden tools or that a bird isn't in focus. They're just as excited as you are to see a pileated woodpecker.

Gail