Recently I was looking back at photo’s I’d taken of our garden over the past five years or so and was utterly amazed at the transformations that had taken place over those years both in terms of the garden’s layouts and the plants grown.
I realised that it was like a landscape of art which was constantly being added or amended to make the garden the best that it could be.
My photo diary journey had also documented our plans for heading into self-sufficiency and has been extremely useful in capturing the types and varieties of veggies we’ve grown, and how much fruit and veggies we’ve had already harvested from the garden.
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- From this back in 2010
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- To this 2013
It’s a great idea to keep a photo diary of your garden, or any cultivation space you have because:
- Allows you to see what plants and flowers grew well in which areas
- The flowering period of plants, especially useful to note if weather/seasons effect blooms from one yr to another
- Helps plan for future years and areas by seeing what you’ve got already in different seasons
- Gives you a good history of just how much you’ve achieved, boy you didn’t realize you’d grown that many varieties of tomatoes!
- Makes you remember the vegetables that didn’t grow so well.
- Allows you to admire the beauty of that great flowering fuchsia you had grown and forgotten about
- Plans you ready for seasonal tasks in the cultivation areas.
- Allows you to record pests and diseases so you know next yr when they are likely to possibly strike again
How to approach a garden photography diary?
With instant access to digital camera’s now it’s not too difficult to just grab your phone and shoot from the hip. However before you go rushing out when the sun shines the real detail comes with when you’re going to photo your cultivation space and from what angle.
- Do you want to capture an overview of the whole garden or just an area?
- Are there any particular plants you want to monitor, or do you want to capture their blooms?
- Do you want to capture your horticultural endeavours weekly, monthly – even daily?
With all that in mind you’re now ready to head outside and start snapping. Sometimes it can be easier to pick the same date every month, or the same time every day to ensure some kind of consistency to your diary.
I’ve been attempting to capture our garden on a monthly basis this year. My trigger to take the photo’s (because it’s easy to forget to take them), is usually a sunny day because naturally I want to be outside and then I want to capture the garden.
It’s also a good reason to blog and while I snap I can also record what the garden has been through, changes, difficulties, breakthroughs and more importantly – colour! It gives me a reason to experiment with my camera using the very plants growing in my garden.
What do you like to capture from your cultivation area? Post a link to your most favorite garden photo and share below :-)
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Cover photo courtesy of Jono Takes Pictures