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FINDING GOLD & FELLOWSHIP IN THE GARDEN

DR DAVID TOWNSHEND FRPS

No. 1 No. 15

Sometimes you can’t predict where a little project might take you. During a wet week in June 2019 I created a series of in-camera multiple exposure images of hostas and other plants in pots in my garden. Now, two years later, they have earned me first place in the International Garden Photographer of the Year Portfolio category along with an RPS Gold Medal, and an FRPS Distinction. Here is how it happened.

I have been developing my skills in impressionist photography since 2016 when I discovered it through workshops run by Valda Bailey and Doug Chinnery. Their approach is to use creative techniques to interpret rather than represent the world around us. It has provided a whole new impetus to my photography – enabling me, a life-long scientist, to discover my artistic side, indeed to become an artist.

My lifelong interest in photographing plants and gardens meant that inevitably that would provide a theme for this new approach. Given their strong shapes and textures, hosta leaves proved a good subject, especially when decorated with raindrops. There is no need to wait for the perfect weather and lighting for impressionist garden photography – you can make much of any conditions.

INTERNATIONAL GARDEN PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

I have entered the International Garden Photographer of the Year (IGPOTY) competition in the past, with more representational images, but with no success. With the encouragement of Valda and Doug to enter competitions, I decided to have another go – but I didn’t submit anything until minutes before the final deadline for entries in October 2020.

I submitted my Hosta Patterns panel (FRPS numbers 9, 11, 13, 18, 20, 21) with this description:

“There are always images waiting to be created, even early on a wet June morning. Pots of Hosta, Heuchera and

Libertia on my patio, each with their own distinctive leaf shapes, textures and colours, were transformed as rain droplets collected on them, with the gloom accentuating their colour. Leaning against the house for shelter, and moving my camera during the sequence of exposures, I captured their transient beauty as unique patterns that are at the same time; bold and intricate.”

When the results were announced in February 2021, with entrants from around the world, I was astonished to discover that I had won the Portfolio category, which is accompanied by an RPS Gold Medal.

Photography friends then encouraged me do more with my images and to consider submitting them for an FRPS. This seemed unlikely as I thought I had at most a dozen possible hosta pattern images. However, a trawl through my files revealed over 100 candidates! Editing to remove near repetitions I still had enough to produce a panel. Producing the final panel and Statement of Intent (SoI) took some effort. I produced 117 versions of the panel, and finally decided on v107. Once Richard Tickner’s invaluable assistance in an RPS 1:1 advisory session put me on the right track, I produced the SoI (below) and sent my submission to the June 2021 Visual Art FRPS assessment.

As Covid arrangements have meant the assessment process can be observed live online I had the enormous pleasure of hearing highly complimentary remarks about my panel followed by the announcement that I had been successful.

So I have squeezed a great deal out of a small project in my garden. A project that I enjoyed doing at the time but I had no comprehension of where it would take me.

IGPOTY Portfolio, top-left clockwise: Nos. 9, 11, 18, 21, 20, 13

Right: No.12

STATEMENT OF INTENT

Transformation

I enjoy exploring how to represent the natural world in different ways, creating images that are striking, intriguing and sometimes enigmatic - like half-recalled memories or dreams tantalisingly just out of reach.

In this project I want to create a panel that depicts an alternative reality. Plants in pots on my patio look glum in the dreary, wet weather. My aim is to transform these plants into an imagined world, a vividly coloured dream, the home of water nymphs. In this magical underwater garden, leaves gently drift and sway with the current, the broad, sensuous curves giving a sense of calm. Elsewhere in this alternative world there are patterns created by plants swirling in eddies where counter currents meet. A closer look reveals intricate details such as textures on the leaf surfaces; and raindrops have become air bubbles adding sparkling lights to the underwater scene.

TECHNIQUE

My impressionist photography relies on two creative techniques: intentional camera movement and, more importantly for me, multiple exposure using in-camera software. My Canon 5DIII allows me to overlay up to nine images. I can change many variables during the sequence – focus, exposure and focal length – and three crucial elements a) the subject, b) white balance and c) the camera’s blending modes, of which there are, in practice, three. The interaction between the layers is crucial to success; and with the addition of Lightroom adjustments later, the possible combinations are limitless.

All the hosta images were composed in the field – there was no layering in Photoshop. They were handheld, allowing me to retain the element of spontaneity rather than seeking perfection – I want to capture the moment. During the sequence of three or four exposures I rotated the camera around a more or less central point. The skill is in keeping the rotational steps equal and not losing the pattern off the edge of the developing composite image as you rotate. Moving the point of rotation just slightly usually produces a very different pattern. On each day I did not vary the basic camera settings – ISO 8001250, aperture f11-14. This freed me to concentrate on composition.

Changing the white balance between sequences enabled me to create the columns of colour. ‘Bright’ blending mode enhanced the sparkle from the raindrops. The images were finished with minor editing in Lightroom – contrast, clarity, white balance, black and white levels, and vignetting.

This approach to creative photography produces images that can be viewed at two distances: standing back and then close up to see detail, especially when viewing prints in an exhibition.

Do try this technique, but prepare yourself for many failures on the way!

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