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In the Luxembourg Gardens

Fontaine de Medicis Paris

Fontaine de Medicis in the Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris

I’m really pleased with this photograph of the Fontaine de Medicis in the Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris. Taken last autumn on the wonderful little Fuji X-10 compact, when converted to black and white the image takes on a sombre moodiness that perfectly matches the almost gothic look of the subject and oozes with texture when printed.

After experimenting with various tones in Lightroom and Nik software I settled on a simple vintage cream look…for now at least – my ‘own recipe’ Lith effect and grainy versions looked pretty good too!

The Medici Fountain has a long and interesting history, well documented on Wikipedia (I’m sure there will be more authoritative sources if you care to research further).

A Question of Patience

A little more detail on one of the images featured (at the time of writing) on my header tabs…

Michael Turner Photo Gardener

Pleached Lime Avenue at Mottisfont Abbey. Nikon D300s, 105mm Micro-Nikkor, 125th at f8.0

The pleached lime avenue at Mottisfont Abbey is one of the major features of this outstanding National Trust owned garden at Romsey in Hampshire. I wanted to show the starkness of the trees in their winter uniform and the overall scale of the avenue but I was concerned about the yawning hole in the centre of my symmetrical composition. So, I positioned myself as far back as I could, mounted my camera on a tripod with my longest available lens in order to compress the perspective a little, and waited…

I’d spotted the gardener busily going about his work and knew that he would be the final element I needed. Sure enough, after a few minutes he made his way down the path and, after a couple of frustrating stops with his back turned to the camera, I had my shot. Very often it’s the preparation that makes the difference, even in candid photography…

Welcome…

Ice Image by Michael Turner

…to my new blog. Actually, it’s not new at all, just the old one with a makeover!

Over the past few months I’ve been establishing a new business called Art In The Garden and making a new home for my photography training and workshops alongside other specialist tutors. If you’re interested in garden and flower photography workshops and inspiration you can find out more at www.art-inthegarden.com.

In the meantime the Turner Photo Training website, now renamed www.photogardener.co.uk, will continue to be my own personal photography blog and will reflect my passion for photography and my favourite subjects, including garden photography, documentary portraits, street photography and reportage. You’ll notice a distinct change in style too, as more of my favourite black and white comes to the fore, alongside tinting, toning and vintage techniques. My colour photography will continue over at Art In The Garden.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating as they say – I hope you’ll pick up the thread of my blog once again as the posts start to flow and follow me on the next phase of my photographic journey.

Cheers

Michael

 

 

 

Martyn PearsonMarch 3, 2013 - 10:24 am

From one genius to another, I just LOVE the new look Michael. I didn’t mean the new look Michael, I meant….. Oh you know what I meant. Great stuff.

adminMarch 24, 2013 - 4:50 pm

Hey, takes one to know one! Thanks Martyn, I know what you mean..I mean I think I know..