Create your own photography environment

Photograph your own garden

As macro photographers, one of the main things we’ve missed since moving to the Whitsundays (Australia), is a botanical garden. It’s something we’d simply accepted, as we pointed our DSLR camera toward the beautiful seascapes surrounding us.

Then on a recent trip to Sydney, we visited an art museum and read an article on the famous artist Monet. It seems Monet’s own garden was the starting point for his fame, and in fact, a large majority of his most famous paintings were created from his own backyard! Now why hadn’t we thought of that! Not as artists of course, but as photographers. We couldn’t wait to return home and start our own garden for macro photography.

Do your research before creating your photographic environment

Flowers and insects are two popular subjects for macro photographers, especially in the beginning of their journey. Spend a day taking notice of flowers and insects already seen around your local neighbourhood. For our own garden, we wanted hardy tropical plants that would attract the hundreds of butterflies and dragonflies we see scooting through our backyard each day. It made sense to us that the best way to attract butterflies, was to find plants that the caterpillar lava like to eat.

Tips for creating a photographic garden

1. If you find a bird bath doesn’t attract enough winged subjects to photograph, try throwing in a few pieces of lemon and lime. The butterflies will love it! The riper the fruit the better.

2. Incorporating a water feature of some sort will help attract frogs and other Amphibians. It need not be a large pond, something as simple as a half barrel is sufficient enough.

3. A water feature of only 6 inches in depth can attract dragonflies. We also find leaving an area of long grass or perching sticks somewhere close by is useful for early morning dew shots like the one shown below.