There was an occasion before where a photographer came here and my role as she took photos was to trail behind, with a towel and dust pan to hand. Every time she identified a subject or frame to photograph, I had to swoop in first to sweep up, wipe, remove a leaf, or rectify a flaw that would have made that shot less perfect. The main reason for rectifying things on the spot was to make each shot as less likely to need photo editing later as possible. Photo editing costs money, and they want to minimise that by correcting things as we went along.
That exercise made me realize how much fakery and over preparation are involved to get most of those perfect shots seen on books, magazines, and television shows.
Which conveys an unrealistic expectation to some, especially beginners that gardening is about the build up to that one perfect moment, like you see in published photos. And that perfect moment lasts a very long time. Both far from truth.
The truth is that gardening is a process to be enjoyed, and so many perfect moments happen within that process to enjoy and savour while they lasted, for some will be fleeting. It could be a moment of perfect lighting, or when plants happen to be all looking good at the same time within the same area, just to name a couple.
So when I take photos of such enjoyable moments, if there is a hosepipe, a secateur, leaf litter here and there, etc I tend not to bother tidying them away to get that 'perfect shot'. They are part of the process, they are the truth and they contribute to making that moment perfect.
Mark :-)
