Blueberries ©2012 Lucinda Howe

During the weeks before Open Studios, I was busy finishing my palm series, making labels, and cleaning the studio.  Now I’m taking a break and catching up on other responsibilities before I start painting again.

This weekend as I cut back sweet autumn clematis and Virginia creeper in my neglected garden, I noticed a good crop of blueberries developing in spite of my neglect.   My garden has always been a source of inspiration for painting, so I grabbed my camera and started taking photos.

In the process, I remembered advice I had been given about photographing the garden…

• Put your camera on its highest resolution.  My photos are 2664 x 4000 pixels.
• Shoot “loose”.  Include more on the outer edges than you think you need.  This photo of the blueberries bushes is too busy with leaves and berries to be a good composition, but it has possibilities for cropping.
  

  Blueberry Trio ©2012 Lucinda Howe

• Experiment with cropping different ways using your photo editing software.  Change the orientation or focus on a small area.  In this example, I isolated a group of three blueberries to emphasize the interesting shapes on the blossom end of the berries.
• By starting with a high resolution file, you can crop to a much smaller size and still have enough pixels to print or post on the web.  In this example, my cropped photo was 774 x 618 pixels, large enough to post or print for painting reference.

Even if I never use this photo for a painting reference, the process helps me to reconnect with my love of gardening and feed my creative spirit.