I consider myself to be a pretty decent amateur photographer. Through trial and error and a lesson with a local pro, I’ve come a long way over the past four to five years. You would think there would be nothing but positives with this development, but you would be wrong.
Allow me to explain.
Most of my “stellar” photography originates within the walls of my property. While I am starting to branch out a bit with my nieces and nephews as the subjects and there is talk (started and ended by me) that I could photograph a wedding and not embarrass myself, let’s face it, it’s all about those green things that stick out of the ground and do not move around so much.
My friends and family have had to suffer through years of blog posts, endless plant photos, confusing Latin references and bizarre rants just so they can say they’ve “read the blog” when we get together. It is bordering on comical to watch the dance when a friend will say “How’s the ONG blog thing doing?” or “I read your blog, like all the time” or “You really blog a lot, huh, that is umm, cool.” I can imagine the pre-game plan of action before people arrive at our house:
“Quick, bring up a recent post of his on your phone.”
“OK, here’s one on butterfly weed or something like that.”
“Great, remember a specific photo and remember to use the word ‘native’ in some way.”
“Got it.”
But here’s the deal, I have zero expectations when it comes to any friends or family reading the blog. If you are not an avid gardener, why would you ever want to read this nonsense? I can assure you if someone I knew wrote a blog about cars, or polish pottery or even soccer (wink wink Alex) I wouldn’t indulge for one minute. In this day and age, we ain’t got time to read what we don’t care about.
But a gardening blog presents a challenge I never considered before I started this venture. The photos, if executed well of course, create a belief that the garden is always in a state of blooming bliss and there couldn’t possibly be a weed to be found. So even non-readers who simply breeze through the photos get a sense that this garden must be mighty impressive:
And even more misleading are the “macro” pics (extreme close-ups of the flowers), which lead the uninformed reader to believe that the blooms are much more prolific and larger than they truly are:
So your peeps scan the blog, see the pretty pics and start to assume that when they finally make their way to your homestead, it is going to be a garden wonderland. Upon arrival, with big expectations in tow, they are almost immediately let down:
Not exactly awe inspiring is it? My photography tricks/strategic angles are exposed and the sum is definitely not the total of the macro parts. Call me paranoid, or neurotic, but I can see the let down in all of my visitors faces. To themselves they mutter “This dude spends countless hours gardening and writing about it and this is the end result? Color me not so impressed.”
Just this past Friday, my garden was featured on the Fine Gardening “Garden Photo of the Day” blog (shameless plug alert) and while I was thrilled and fortunate to be included – you can view it here – I immediately felt the pressure to justify the photos. While the praise rolled in from family members and friends, I wondered if they asked themselves “Is that really his garden?”. How easily I turned a positive into a negative.
Now having said all this, I think there are four potential solutions to my “over promise/under deliver” problem:
1 – Cut back on the photograpy quality – maybe time for a camera downgrade? Could I get it to a point where the real thing is better than the pics?
2 – Stop inviting people over – this is an easy one. We may end up alone, but I’ll be in a better place.
3 – Quit my job and spend day and night fine tuning the garden – think my wife will take a second job and maybe a third?
4 – Pay a professional handsomely and have it done right – worthwile investment for peace of mind, right?
What do you think? Which option is best? Any other suggestions?
Until I figure this all out, I’ll continue to suffer through the ups and downs of a gardener. I’ll also need to start a campaign to let the non-gardener folk know how difficult this really is. But that is an entirely different topic for another day …
Drats! You revealed our professional secret. Of course the emperor has no clothes. Beautiful garden and flower photos are created by photographers and bear little resemblance to what one’s garden really looks like.
This year I’ve not been able to spend the same amount of time on my garden as I usually do and the neglected look of my beds reflects that. I’ve gone with solution number 2. Most of the people who inquire about my garden have been here before and I can just direct them to the blog to see what’s going on. We’re not lonely just enjoying our solitude. Solution 4 might be the one for you as you can still have people over, impress their socks off, and take credit for the whole thing. They’ll never be the wiser.
Your comments about friends and family reading your blog cracked me up!
Too funny! I feel the same about (non gardening) friends and family reading (or saying they read) my blog. I really don’t expect them too!
As for the state of your garden vs. the photos. I have this fantasy that I can read their minds when people show up for a garden visit. Occasionally one of them will give away their feelings by actually saying something (“too bad about that ___” or “it’s so small”) but usually I just watch them look around and give it all away with their eyes.
I’m new to your Blog – was impressed by your FG GPOD. I look at it this way; we garden mostly for our own pleasure and blog about it to share our experiences with like-minded people who understand both our triumphs and despairs. So I suggest a 5th option – don’t talk about the blog with friends and family that don’t also garden, as you said, they’re not interested anyway. Just continue gardening for your own pleasure and don’t worry about what they think!! Talk about other things when they’re there.
Take number 5: Don’t change anything at all – keep doing what you are doing. Gardeners understand seasons and bloom times and are smart enough to know that everything doesn’t bloom at once. Otherwise, you get the faux-reality of flower and garden shows….I recall a friend who was so surprised on a visit to the Philly show when I remarked that the displays were beautiful but you could never create them at home – imagine if daffodils and peonies and mums bloomed at the very same time. Just do what you do and enjoy it…..when I write about birds on my blog, do not assume that I walked into the woods and there were 20 different species posing for photos….nope, you walk or sit for hours sometimes to catch a glimpse of one of two or maybe three birds. Patience is a virtue and blogs are summaries. Joan@birdingboomers.com
What about the old standby: “You should have seen it last week – that [PICK ONE: heat, rain, wind, mass stampede of raccoons] really trashed the [PICK ONE: bed, side yard, back yard, whole garden].
The truth is, real gardeners understand – and the rest think you’re nuts anyway.
well as a true gardener you are really gardening for yourself and you already know the infinite list of things to do before your garden is “done” so no dishonesty there. Your photos reflect and single out the things you love about your garden, how you see it as is true of any artist and their subject so no dishonesty there and the friends & family who follow your blog do so b/c they love you. Plus if they don’t actually garden then they think it’s great anyways, lol.
Functional garden picture book?
As both a professional landscaper and an amateur photographer, I understand your dilemma. Only when I lived in a house that had a tiny little yard was I able to pull off a mostly spectacular garden. But, we landscapers have our own tricks of the trade: Plant the right plant in the right spot. Stagger plants with different bloom times to have some color all season long. Use a few plants that give you the most bang for the buck — they grow and bloom quickly and have a long bloom time. It’s worth it to at least hire a professional for a consultation on your yard or maybe you could afford a good seasonal cleanup 3 – 4 times a year. Good luck. Love your blog. – Melody, Landscape Designer with A Spark of Life Landscaping https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Spark-of-Life-Landscaping/197213183646577
Yeah, these things happen. No, I’m not a gardener, but I do appreciate the garden and flower photos. They are just taken amazingly. Who would say no to them? I’ll have to take it from Marshacb also, just blog and don’t mind those who wouldn’t understand what you’re doing. You blog because you garden.