As a gardener, you work hard to create a beautiful garden. You plan, you dig, you plant, you sweat and you deal with your aching back, until you achieve your goal. You know it will still require finishing touches and constant maintenance, but for the moment it is at a satisfactory stage. Do not stop now, there are still two things you need to do:
1) Photograph it. Take out your trusty camera and use it to capture and record your creation. Digital camera's are great for this. You can take as many photo's as you like, and it does not cost anything. Your garden is constantly changing, so capture it as you make changes. Having a record of the progress you make will encourage you to forge ahead as you view the development of your garden, and will reward you with a profound sense of accomplishment when your work is finally finished.
Take your photo's at different times of the day to benefit from the different light conditions. Do not take one photograph of a scene – take several. Make small changes to your position, choose slightly different focal points, use spot and average light metering, or if your camera supports bracketing, make use of this feature. The more shots you take of the same scene, the more likely you are to get that one great shot.
Choose sunny days if possible, because most point and shoot cameras are white balanced for sunny days. If it is cloudy, change the white balance on your camera to 'cloudy'. This will give you a brighter photo. Try to avoid taking photo's where the sun is in front of you, or scenes where you have high contrast – areas of bright direct sunlight and deep shadows in the same photograph. Choose scenes which are composed of one or the other, not both.
If you have to have sun and shadow in the same shot, force your camera to use the flash – this can aid in filling the detail in shady areas.
2) Share it. Once you have your photographs, share them. Use them as desktops for your PC, email them to your friends and relatives. Create a blog that displays your achievement to the world at large. Put them on the covers of your children's school books. Use them in your greeting cards.
Print your best shots on decent photographic paper, spray them with a fixer/UV resistant clear coat (so that they do not fade) and have them framed. Hang them in a prominent position in your home, where guests can see them. This can be quite a dramatic and interesting if you include a 'before' and 'after' photograph in the same frame.
There is no reason why you should not boast about your garden. There is an enormous amount of work involved in creating a beautiful garden, and part of the reward for your sterling efforts is the automatic acquisition of bragging rights. Use them.

Tags & Keywords : garden,gardening,garden improvement,photography