re: asking permission

**R*@aol.com**

Doreen, Saxon, et al.,

After months of lurking, I'll just come out for a few moments to comment on 
getting permission to photograph private and public gardens.  Photographers 
both professional and semiprofessional need to recognize how important of an 
issue this is with many homeowners and botanical gardens.  Many have been 
burned in the past and there's a well-known shooter who has been banned from 
more than a few places because of their unethical practice of shooting and 
publishing pictures without permission and/or credit.  This kind of behavior 
makes it hard for the rest of us who are the next ones to knock on that door.

I've tried to develop a user friendly property release that gives the private 
garden owner some options as to how I can use the photos.  If they agree to 
having them published, I ask if they want me to request that they be credited 
if at all possible. I also mention that credit to designers/homeowners are 
usually at the discretion of editors and art directors.  I also offer 
duplicate slides or prints in return.  Building honest relationships is 
important to my business and I've garnered many "come any time you wish" 
offers to some exceptional places.

Carlo makes a good distinction as to closeups and small combinations.  Yes, I 
think most owners aren't as sensitive to those uses but if they're well known 
for a particular plant or the way they use blend certain colors together, 
it's always best to ask.

Remember, take only photographs, leave only good will for the next 
photographer!

I'll also chime in with my favorite garden film -- Ektachrome 100VS or it's 
amateur version Elite Chrome Extra Color (EBX). After years of shooting 
Velvia, I began to tire of the super saturated tones and as a former 
photography editor, I know that overly brilliant colors can look great on a 
light box but can plug up when separated.  So now I use the VS ( =very 
saturated) and enjoy a little more speed and a true ASA (Velvia always looked 
a little dark at 50).  E100VS also corresponds nicely with my polaroids when 
I shoot medium format and it's a little cooler too which gives my morning 
shots more atmosphere. You can push it at least one stop but pushing costs me 
twice what normal processing does so I don't do it often. Ektachrome 200 is 
designed to be pushed one to two stops but it's not nearly as saturated.  
Heard the new Fujichrome 400 is pretty impressive too and must try some.

By the way, Saxon is one of the finest garden photographers around and you 
should all check out the new Ornamental Grasses book he did in collaboration 
with Nancy Ondra.  Exceptional writing too!  I think Storey is the publisher.

That's my two cents.  See you in Seattle! 

Rob Cardillo

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