Midlands AGS show 12th April 2014

[Jon Evans]

I'm sure you don't need another report on this show, after the sustained tour-de-force Cliff has produced, but I have now posted my more formal photos here on the AGS website http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/discussion/atshows/Midland+Show+April+th+/18513/ .  I'm sure there are a few plants there that Cliff missed.

[Maggi Young]

Thank you Jon, we are always pleased to hear what you have been up to and direct viewers to your efforts.
Are you on duty at Cleveland AGS show on the 19th?

 edit : Cleveland Show venue:  The Education Centre, Junction Road, Norton, Stockton-on-Tees, TS20 1PR

[David Nicholson]

It's just good to have a photographer who knows where his lens cap is

[Maggi Young]

It's just good to have a photographer who knows where his lens cap is

True, but at least Sue did manage to persuade the Bookeroo not to post his pix from under the tables......           ( Fine woman that she is  )

[Tim Ingram]

Jon's photographs are pretty special aren't they? Even comparing them with Cliff's wonderful pictures taken in the Dolomites and a few other photographers on this Forum. There really should be a proper exhibition of some of these images of alpine plants and landscapes, and perhaps some of the more historic and evocative images from the Bulletins and elsewhere. It would be a great project to put together given interest from significant galleries around the country... . But how do you begin to choose...?

[ranunculus]

Many thanks for the compliment Tim, but anyone who has seen Jon's stunning body of work featuring displays of factual images, artistic creations and photographic compilations will be aware that these are the work of a professional camera user, a maestro of the digital art.
Jon uses camera, lens and tripod to capture the very essence of a plant and portrays and displays these beautiful images at their best for fellow AGS and SRGC members to enjoy.
I never use a tripod, backdrop or subsidiary lighting … I simply roam and point when the moment demands it (in the show hall and the mountains) … my images satisfy my needs and can look effective in digital presentations and on the web, but they would rarely be of a high enough standard to be printed at A3 or above.
We are talking about two standards here ...

[Jon Evans]

That’s very kind of you all, but I think the main distinction to make is between the role of the show photographer and that of a visitor to the show.  As show photographer you get all sorts of advantages – moving the plants to a well-lit situation in front of a background, where you can remove labels and use a reflector or auxiliary lighting if required.  [And do some minor gardening if necessary - ssh].  In many ways the results reflect this, rather than any great skill.  On the other hand, you are expected to produce perfect images in the style preferred by the AGS Bulletin, The Alpine Gardener.  It is a bit like being a wedding photographer – you have to turn up and get good pictures, whatever the weather, whatever the condition of the plants (except that I don’t get paid for doing it!).

When you first start doing it, this seems dreadfully difficult and challenging, but gradually you learn the tricks and angles, and it becomes very routine.  That’s why I’m always looking for ways of getting the best out of a tricky plant, or looking for an angle or close-up that isn’t obvious – it makes the job more interesting.  As those who visit the shows will know, it is a very time consuming undertaking – I am usually taking photos constantly for at least 5 hours – and physically demanding, with the result that I often have backache by the end of the day, usually not from trauma caused by carrying heavy pots, but from spending the day at an awkward angle peering through a viewfinder on the back of the camera.

I also wander, without tripod, background and lighting, both in people’s gardens and in the wild, at least in the UK.  Often those trips, and the photos which result from them, are more exciting for me than the formal work.  I have enjoyed compiling a huge collection of images from the garden at Blackthorn Nursery in the last few years, a few of which were used to help illustrate the articles in the Bulletin last year.  Cliff’s images (and those of the many other great photographers who post here) capture a sense of joy and wonder at what he has discovered in his travels; unless inspiration strikes, as it does from time to time, mine can become a rather unexciting, if precise, botanical record.

I’m not on duty at Cleveland thank goodness; it is a bit far for me to travel, and I am in the throes of preparing for the London Show the following weekend.

[Tim Ingram]

And Cliff, what about photographers like the famed Cartier Bresson who just caught moments who no one else saw? A tripod would certainly have tripped him up let alone anyone he was trying to photograph! I never forget a series of photographs from the inside of an art shop he took of people looking at pictures from the pavement outside - and in particular a slightly risque picture placed on a side wall! Very human - they show people as they really are! I think this is the point of photography - it is the person behind the camera and how they see the world; artistic and journalistic and at times naïve. You may go to great art galleries and marvel at what painters have achieved but you are pretty well stuck with your own abilities even if only a few paintings ever find the value that the immensely rich put on them. On the other hand you can appreciate the work of people you know, for example Rosemary Powis' drawing of Paris that I showed elsewhere. This is why I think an exhibition would be so good - we enjoy the plants at the Shows, but really what proportion of people ever get to see and appreciate these? Artists on the whole like to show off their work, even if they scribble with chalk on the pavement!

[Maggi Young]

Problem with having an official photography set-up, which  requires plants to be taken from the show bench to have their portraits taken is that there is constant disruption to the display and  a consequent disappointment and irritation  from the show  audience as they find "holes" in the display. We can  find such irritation expressed at shows in Scotland when there are plants removed from the bench to go to be considered by the Joint Rock Committee - so on balance, even though neater portraits may be achieved by the AGS method, I am glad that this is not the process followed at our  SRGC shows.
When there is so much effort put in to attracting visitors to  our shows, I do think it is counter-productive to be removing plants from those displays - the public is not always easily convinced of the reason.

[Jon Evans]

That is true, but with the Joint Rock Committee you can find maybe up to a dozen plants removed for a period of 1-2 hours.  For the show photography, we remove one plant at a time, usually for no more than 5 minutes, so disruption is kept to a minimum.  I also find the Joint Rock removals disruptive - apart from anything else I am supposed to photograph all those plants, which of course increases the amount of time they are away from the display.  If I can, I do these plants before the committee convenes, usually at 12.

[Maggi Young]

In Scotland we have made strenuous efforts to remove plants one by one to Joint Rock, and for them to be kept away  for  the shortest time possible, to minimise disruption to the show, members and our paying visitors.  It seems to work quite well.