There’s more to the garden than the BBQ – A tale of four cameras and a deadly ladder.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my BBQ. In the summer it smokes and sizzles with all kinds of marinated goodies getting a good char. But a garden needs cheer as well, and that comes from the erratically planted plants which can be divided into edible (tomatoes and herbs) and the rest (flowers and leaves).

Sometimes I take snapshots in this small, untidy garden as a kind of seasonal record. But recently, I spent a lot of time there with a cushion, a hot water bottle and pain killers, after my loft ladder crashed to earth, with me on it.

It was still sunny then, so I took even more pictures of flowers. They are very good subjects – extremely colourful and with extraordinary natural designs. They don’t move just as you find focus, unlike the cat. Also I wanted to try out a f1.2  lens, as well as an old film camera, without walking too far. (I am now OK, thanks). By the time you read this, the sun will be diminished and the gloom of winter upon us. So for me, these shots are a reminder of brighter days.

There are the 284 million photos with #flowers on Instagram. And there are all kinds of flower photography.  I don’t think it’s the coolest genre these days, despite its pedigree. But take a look at this recent exhibition of contemporary floral art at the Saatchi Gallery in London.

Robert Mapplethorpe is less contemporary, but his flower images are very good, especially the lilies, and I am intrigued they are the polar opposite of his work with celebrities, actors and acquaintances. And his flowers are far beyond the extreme opposite of his pictures in the New York gay bar Mineshaft, where he was a kind of “official” photographer.  This bar has its own entry in Wikipedia, and it was nothing like my local pub.

I am more on the Instagram end of the genre. The lens I was trying out was a Voigtlander 55mm f1.2 SL IIs Nokton for my Nikon F3. I wanted to shoot wide open, so I got of plenty of “borderline” focus. Let’s call it artistic blur. I also have a Voigtlander 28mm (as talked about in a previous post) and must admit I don’t keep good notes, or often any notes, so I do get my lenses and images mixed up.

I am not a diligent gardener, but I did throw a lot of Zinnia and sunflower seeds into the soil this year, in protest at the price of cut flowers. Ironically I am not protesting too loudly about the price of new film. Got to just suck it up and keep going. But having a last few old expired rolls of 120 in the freezer makes it feel less reckless using my Holga.

And what a change to switch to the Canon 5D Mk 3. Everything becomes less risky, and sharp, and the sensor loves the colours. And every shot is free! The first shot below is zoomed in over 10x, and I really enjoy the grainy result. Of course it is no longer sharp.

And finally, a fleeting shot of the cat, caught on my iPhone 12 as he plunged six feet to the ground. Sounds familair. But it’s a good performance for a cat nearly 18 years old.

Thank you for reading.

Simon

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