Good light can be a funny thing and photographers are always looking for it. Sometimes you have to make it for yourself.
In this New Mexico garden, full of silver foliage plants I found both Bluestem Ephedra (E. equisetina) and Lamb’s Ear (Stachys byzantina) almost next to each other, and wanted to make a photo the included both. Gardeners love to see ways plants can companion and here, in the remarkable difference in foliage texture, I thought I could make an interesting photo.
But the Stachys was in the shade of a pergola while the Ephedra was in the middle of the backyard, in the soft light of early morning. The light was not good for either and trying to put them together seemed futile.
Getting behind the Lamb’s Ear looking out toward the Equisetum was telling the camera meter to average for the whole scene when actually I only wanted the Lamb’s Ear to stand out. The solution was to use the light on it, and overexpose the Equisetum, letting it simply be texture in the background.
It is still useful to the gardener who wants to know how the plants might look together – and a much more interesting photo, letting the light work for me.
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More about light in the mini book Using the Light
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