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Re: [GWL]: Taking photos

Nan -- the advice to take lots of pictures of everything is a great tip. When 
I first started as a garden writer, I also was asked to speak, but hated to 
because I had no slides. Handouts only go so far when describingplant 
attributes, color combos, etc.

What I did was take tons of photos, mostly flowers and containers to start 
with. Then I expanded to shrubs, trees and other types of plants. My goal is 
to take as many photos of plants as possible. Despite having numerous 
photographs published, I don't consider myself a professional photographer. 
However, I have a many beautiful pictures and I get paid for my presentations 
(most recently $150 to speak at a library), so I feel like I must be doing 
something right. 

When possible I try to take pictures of the plant in the landscape or garden 
(a distant shot that helps with perspective, size, etc., or shown with two or 
three other plants), a closer-in shot and/or a closeup of the flower, leaf or 
other characteristics I want to emphasize.

When you have a good selection of photos, you can craft a talk for many 
different topics.  When I started, I tried to do whatever was requested, 
which was a ridiculous amount of work. 

I suggest honing a talk with slides to one or two topics, which is what I 
did. I add a new topic or two each year, and, in general, try to keep the 
slides related to that talk in their own carousels. That's not always 
possible and sometimes I have to cannabalize the slides from one talk for 
another. I try to keep talks fresh by updating them every year or two with 
several new (sometimes better) photos or photos of new and different plants 
that fall into the topic. 

For new topics, I try to look at trends to see what's going on that I can 
talk about and show with the slides...sometimes you have to fill in the gaps 
with new photos. Some of  topics I give now: Worthy of Small Spaces: trees 
and shrubs for the urban gardener, covered many plants taking them through 
the seasons, showing why they would be worth space in a small yard; Cutting 
Gardens and how to work them into the urban/suburban landscape; Longest 
blooming annuals and perennials for the Hoosier gardener; Native plants for 
urban gardeners; No-fail plants for the Hoosier gardener. I give between 30 
and 50 talks a year to groups of 10 to 150 and up.

I've seen all the discussion about digital photos, how easy they are to move 
into files in the computer, etc. All this is true. You can even move them 
into powerpoint, but it's rare that any of the venues you'll be invited to 
will have the necessary equipment to show a powerpoint presentation.

That's why I've stuck with slides.  

Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
Indianapolis Zone 5

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