Art in the Garden — Donna Hopkins

There are distinct challenges in taking pictures in a botanical garden.

There are beautiful vistas, often carefully curated to create a sense of awe and wonder. These scenes are welcoming and expansive. And it is these very design goals that make them difficult to photograph. Determining the subject of the photo can feel overwhelming. Focus on the whole scene or individual elements?

The gardens require care and respect. This often limits access to photographic subjects. The possibility of re-arranging the elements in the frame is not an option. The only change that works is a change of perspective by the photographer. It is not nature that changes; it is the photographer that must move.

Because flowers are beautiful and universally loved, they are natural photographic subjects. There are always lots of people taking pictures of the flowers, pointing cameras here and there. Sometimes it feels like a contest to see who can document the gardens best or most. Snap, snap, snap. The whole affair can read like a giant photographic to-do list rather than an immersive experience in observation. When I am in the gardens, I slow my breath; I walk slowly, too. I let my eyes rest and try to see the small, overlooked things. I seek the interplay of texture and light. I try to stay calm and keep in mind that even if I leave with no successful pictures, the day has been joyful anyway.