Photography in an Orchard
I LOVE orchards. So much so that I have a giant photograph from an apple orchard in my dining room. This is, in fact, not one of my pictures, but one made by a photographer whose work I admire, Kara Rosenlund. Her version is called Country Apples, and you can see it here. The print was a huge splurge, an early gift from my husband for our 45th wedding anniversary next month.
Sentry Peaches, Grelen Gardens, Somerset, Virginia | June 2026
Plums, Grelen Gardens, Somerset, Virginia | June 2026
Taking pictures in an orchard is challenging. At least for me. And yet still worth the work. I love being in the orchard. I love the smell of almost ripe fruit, the rolling terrain, the bees. I love the stickiness of the fruit. The warmth of summer breezes. I love the mess of abundance, but it is hard to photograph.
Here are the problems.
The orchard is very green. I mean like overwhelmingly green, and my digital camera does an awful job at handling greens. Too yellow, too bright.
The light in the orchard is almost always dappled. And while this is a magical light to be in, it is hard to record. Too much contrast.
The orchard is messy in the way that nature is often messy. Chaotic with branches crossing one another, dead wood, rotten fruit. I have nothing against mess or decay, I just wish it would line itself up in an artistic fashion.
Everything looks gorgeous. Lush. Textured. Like a slowly moving still life scene. And yet nothing seems to photograph as it looks to the human eye.
The light is often bright, and this means the LCD screen is pretty much worthless for evaluating pictures as I go. It feels a lot like film photography, where I make an educated guess as to camera settings. And then hope for the best.
Unfortunately, I do not have easy answers to any of these problem. But I keep trying. The two images I am sharing here actually kind of hurt my eyes. Something does not seem right, but they are the best I can do for now. And sharing them is a low-stakes way to learn and make my way forward.