We are pleased to announce a new feature that will be appearing on a regular basis as a series of photo essays. Our new correspondent is a long time MG as well as being an accomplished photographer. These two traits have been combined to give an interesting new perspective on what we routinely take for granted around our exhibition gardens.
“When most gardeners have cut their plants and stored their tools for winter,
the master gardener sees things differently”
The knowledge of the MG plus the keen eye of a photographer have focused in on some of the overlooked aspects of the unique plants we have. Even common weeds take on a new face and have a beauty all of their own when viewed through the eyes of a MG!
When we photograph plants and flowers, the natural tendency is to want to capture as much of the scene as possible – often with a loss of detail. The trained photographer has learned to block out the extraneous and concentate on capturing the unusual or striking feature of a subject that will tell a story. Jennie, Sue and I have all shot the gardens at various stages, but our focus was mainly on just recording a specimen as a whole or a landscape vista.
To make my point, just consider how much more detail becomes apparent when a photo is cropped and all other extraneous detail is removed. You have to look no further than the header photos Sue features in the blog.
You can do this in the field by careful composition, planning and sharp focusing on the subject to minimize distracting backgrounds.
We hope you will enjoy this new take on the plants we have and that you might want to copy some of the same techniques in your own garden photography.
Unlike our Mystery Plant and What’s that Plant series – the correspondent will remain the mystery. See if you can name the plants!
Monroe County Master Gardener Association 
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