Fling 2018: People in Garden Pictures

Rather than avoiding including fellow visitors in my Fling photos,  as I did on previous Flings, I included them.  

A lone figure in the landscape adds a focal point.
 Having one thing in a photo different from everything else...
...creates a foci, around which the landscape swirls.


 I liked the people in the mirror--oopsie, there's an unintentional self-portrait.
 This is the age of people looking at their phone.
A lone person reading in a garden is an older tradition.  One is connected to the world on a phone.  With a book, one is inside the author's world.
   This path is not nearly as interesting without the walkers:
 I love this shot.  The poncho people look like gnomes and are a splash of pastel color in the green and gravel landscape
 Could almost be a painting on the wall, but it's a window into another part of the garden. 
 The figures add a sense of depth here.
Speaking of unintentional self portraits, I took a couple of intentional ones.  The camera conveniently hid my face. 
 If only the Jack Nicholson image was to the left of me, leering at me.  That would have been perfect. 
 People show the scale of the garden, especially the height of trees. 



 It's fun to wonder what people are wondering as they look at, or photograph, something. 
We garden bloggers take gardens seriously



 Yes, it is.

 Does this blogger have a photo of me taking a photo of her? 
 Yes, that is one impressive Yucca rostrata flower display!  I also like how the man is framed by the window frame. 
 I was wondering about that planter myself
 It's Tillandsia recurvata. The locals call it "ball moss". 

 And what rare and exotic plant was everyone so fascinated with? 
Taco plants?
 A brightly colored outfit makes a splash



 Poncho Day was great.


 A photo of people having fun is--fun!
 A group foot cool-off has become a Fling tradition

 At the last garden on the last day of the Fling, which was sunny and hot, even I indulged.  Ahhh...felt good!


A mass of garden visitors swarming in a garden is fun too.  You know you are on a garden tour.  

I found including people, especially a lone figure in the distance, made composition much easier.  Many great paintings contain a lone figure--now I understand how much it adds to an image.  
In The Berkshires by George Inness

Moonrise by George Inness

Blick auf Arles by Vincent Van Gogh
What do you think about having people in your garden photos?  Are you more likely to try it now? 

Comments

  1. Do like these kind of shots, puts a different perspective and dynamism on photos.

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    1. Humans like looking at other humans. No getting around 40 million years of evolution.

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  2. "poncho people"....haha. I have a lot of poncho people in my day one photos too. I do like people in my photos, especially when they aren't other bloggers angling for a shot. I do hesitate though to post them sometimes, just wanting to respect people's privacy.

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    1. Big hats, backs turned, umbrellas, off in the far distance--I stuck to that, mostly, for privacy. I liked the one of you because you were so focused!

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  3. That was fun! I still try to shoot around people and I've trashed most of my inadvertent selfies, though. I do like it when people are available to provide scale.

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    1. Having a big camera hiding my face made me a bit more tolerant of selfies!

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  4. I won't post faces, but sometimes turned away for scale near a tree.

    The Fling photos sort of balance out - 'I'll show you mine'

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    1. I like having the person looking off in the distance in front of the lens, so the viewer of the photo is seeing what the person in the photo is seeing.

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  5. Best Fling post ever! I love your perspective and pictures!

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  6. I'm so glad you took all these pictures with people in them. I always mean to do that, but I rarely follow through. You set a good example for me to follow!

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    1. It's good to try different methods for photos (and in the garden, too).

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  7. With 90+ bloggers at the same location, it must be hard to get shots without people in them! This post gives a real feel for the event, especially the poncho people.

    Saw a shot of a planter at one of Dustin Gimbel's landscapes that's more inspiration for your blue-and-silver bank-to-be: https://www.instagram.com/p/BXn3u_4gplt/?taken-by=dustingimbeldesigns

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    1. It was possible, really to get unpopulated photos. I got many. I just found a figure or two could add something to many scenes.

      Oooh that is pretty--silvery cactus, blue fescue, and Centaurea ragusina! Thanks for that link.

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  8. Thoughtful post, fun reading. I agree with Mark and Gaz. Because we are all egocentric (or anthrocentric) figures in the landscape draw our attention. Even animals do the same since we anthropomorphize the animals.

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  9. I think your people pictures are perfection. People do add scale. In a huge group like this it is often impossible to look at an area without people so why not embrace them. Besides when you get home you can remember the ones you became chummy with.

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    1. Thank you. It will be nice to look back and remember how we were all having fun cooling our feet off!

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  10. Haha--what fun! This is a great post, and indeed you do make an excellent case for people in the photos. I do wish I had thought to take more of the colorful, cherub-like "poncho people"! You caught a good one of the lone blue cherub on the left. Love your insights. Such as this: "One is connected to the world on a phone. With a book, one is inside the author's world."

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  11. A lovely way to photograph your garden flings. In Europe the privacylaw changed and before
    photographing you have to ask for permession to the one's who are on the photo if it's okay to
    post them on social media. The world get's crazy I think.
    Have a wonderful weekend ahead Hoover Boo

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    1. The world is crazy and even crazier here in the US, unfortunately. It's one reason why we need our gardens!

      Wishes for a peaceful and happy weekend in the garden for you, Marijke.

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  12. It must be hard to not get people in all of your shots on that large a garden tour. Love what they add to the pictures.

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    1. Actually, no, I got plenty without people, but as you say, they add to the pictures. As long as there is a garden involved, like the sign said, "It's all good" :)

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  13. I thought, 'Ah, look at that little old woman with her too-short pants. Wonder who she is? Then I saw my shoes..." Ha. Thanks for the memory!

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    1. The right length for the Downpour Day, though. Those puddles got deep!

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