Garden Photoessay Collage

One fun thing to do with a series of portraits and garden images is to combine them in a memorable collage. The images to the left were taken at the home of a local garden enthusiast. At the top of the collage it says "A childhood in a garden can grow a lifetime of happiness." The portrait of Meghan missing her front teeth will forever bring back memories for her mom. Dad stood behind me making his daughter laugh so we could see that lovely toothless grin. A green blanket was used to keep Meghan's lovely white dress clean. All of the flower images were taken in mom's garden and since the garden is something really special to her, the end-product of our garden portrait session is extra special.

I love telling garden stories and I advertise it using some of my favored floral images in the collage to the left. The image of my daughter dancing in black-eyed susans can tell the whole story - nature is beautiful, flowers are fun, girls love to dance...But all of these images together show my style of photography while really showing off the loveliness we can behold in the garden and incorporate into our daily lives.

Try to think of your photos in groups and create something with deep personal meaning. If you are not using a digital camera and/or not adept with photoshop, try printing your photos and using a scrapbook technique.

The Garden Photo Essay

Every garden has a story. The land speaks of past experiences if you listen and look. A photographer must use of all of her senses to make nature reveal its full beauty. As a photographer I like to try to make the space tell me its secrets.

At my favorite garden center, I walk up a quiet path and duck under the drooped arched branches of a tree and discover a large rock beneath. How many children have climbed and perched on this rock? How many kids have played hide-and-seek beneath here while mothers desperately tryed to locate them? How many lovers have found this quiet spot? How many photographers have taken photos here? What did this place look like before the proprietor of the nursery built this garden? I peek out between shrubbery and the sunlight glows on a large field of echinacea. This place feels spiritual...dreamlike. Memories I don't have come flooding to me....other people's memories from an active imagination. The place has a lot to say to me about relationships, solitude and peace. How do I convey these words without using them.

How do I convey everything I feel here? How do I make my viewers understand the calmness I feel on this path? Sometimes it can be done in one photograph. Sometimes the photo essay captures the whole story. A series of pictures is a story without words.

Another place... Joppa Hill Farm in Bedford NH is just a few miles from my home. Since we moved here three years ago, my daughter and I have taken trips to see the animals there. We walk the fields in search of wildflowers. We run through the tall grasses and laugh in the sunshine. I want to remember this forever. I dress her for the occasions. She wears pretty dresses that catch the sunlight. Our photoessay is a long running one. Each visit is a photo essay in itself, but each successive visit adds to the story. I will remember my daughter growing up here.