by hankinslawrenceimages | Apr 19, 2019 | Workshops
It’s not too late to join me for a week of photographing flowers in early May in Philadelphia.
I still have a few openings in my May 5 – 11 Photographing the Gardens Workshop. You can learn more about the workshop and register at https://beautifulflowerpictures.com/store/photographing-the-gardens-of-philadelphia-may-2019/
During the workshop we’ll explore and photograph at several of the gardens in the Philadelphia area including
- Bartram’s Garden where Philadelphia’s gardening tradition began,
- Longwood Gardens with its extensive gardens on the former estate of Pierre S. and Alice du Pont in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania,
- Mt. Cuba Center with its native plant gardens and landscapes in Hockessin, Delaware,
- Winterthur Gardens where Henry Francis du Pont designed his estate to be a work of art showcasing nature’s beauty,
- Chanticleer Gardens established as a pleasure garden in Wayne, Pennsylvania, and
- Shofuso House and Gardens, a Japanese Garden in Philadelphia.
We’ll also spend time discussing how to create the photographs you envision in the field and in post-processing. Talks during the workshop will include
- Capturing What You See. We’ll talk about composition, lens choice, depth of field and using a tripod,
- Nuts and Bolts of Flower Photography. We’ll talk about F-stops, shutter speeds, ISO, exposure compensation and histograms,
- Quick Edits in Lightroom. We’ll talk about a few quick edits you can make to your photos that will make them “pop”, and
- Working with Textures in Photoshop. We’ll talk about ways you can add another dimension to your photos using textures.
If you’d like more information about workshop, please visit my website at https://beautifulflowerpictures.com/store/photographing-the-gardens-of-philadelphia-may-2019/
If you’re not sure if this workshop is right for you, drop me a note and we’ll find time to talk.
I’d love to have you join me for a week of photographing flowers in America’s Garden Capital.
by hankinslawrenceimages | Feb 1, 2019 | Pennsylvania, Workshops
I’ve had a few questions about some of the lesser-known gardens we’ll be visiting during my Photographing the Gardens of Philadelphia workshop in May. So I thought I’d share a bit about some of them here on my blog in the coming weeks.
Shofuso Japanese House and Gardens in an amazing peaceful oasis in the heart of Philadelphia’s West Fairmount Park Occupying only 1.2 acres, the gardens include beautiful landscapes hillsides, a waterfall, a koi pond, a traditional Japanese house and a tea house and garden. The site has been the home to Japanese buildings and landscaping dating back to the 1876 Centennial Exposition. For many years, it was the home of a Japanese Buddhist Temple Gate brought to the United States for the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exhibition. The house was built in Japan in 1953 when is was exhibited at Museum of Modern Art in New York. After the exhibition in New York, the house was moved to its current location.
In the spring, the gardens are filled with blossoming azaleas and dogwood. With any luck, they will be in bloom when we visit during the workshop.
Here are a few of my photographs from Shofuso Japanese House and Gardens to give you a sense of what we might see and photograph there in May
Shofuso Japanese Gardens, Philadelphia, PA © 2017 Patty Hankins
Kimono, Shofuso Japanese House, Philadelphia, PA © 2017 Patty Hankins
Shofuso Japanese Gardens, Philadelphia, PA © 2019 Patty Hankins
In the Shofuso Japanese Gardens © 2018 Patty Hankins
Shofuso Japanese Gardens, Philadelphia, PA © 2019 Patty Hankins
Dogwood & Azaleas at Shofuso Japanese Gardens © 2018 Patty Hankins
Umbrella, Shofuso Japanese House, Philadelphia, PA © 2017 Patty Hankins
Dogwood Reflections © 2017 Patty Hankins
Shofuso Japanese House and Gardens is just one of the gardens we’ll visit during my Photographing the Gardens of Philadelphia Workshop in May. For more information about the workshop, visit https://beautifulflowerpictures.com/store/photographing-the-gardens-of-philadelphia-may-2019/
I’d love to have you join me for a week of photographing some of the beautiful gardens in the Philadelphia area.
by hankinslawrenceimages | Jan 4, 2019 | Workshops
Now that it’s January and the holidays are coming to a close, I’m ready to start photographing flowers outside again! It will be a few months before anything is blooming here in the DC area, but a photographer can certainly start planning for spring.
If you’re as ready to start planning for spring flower photography as I am, join me in Philadelphia for a week-long flower photography workshop from May 5 – 11.
Not only will we spend time photographing in many of the 30 gardens in the area, we’ll also explore how to create the photographs that let you share the beauty you are seeing.
During the workshop, we’ll visit at least five gardens or parks to photograph flowers. We will head to the places that have the best displays that week. The gardens we may visit include Bertram’s Garden, Chanticleer, Jenkins Arboreatum, Longwood Gardens, Mt. Cuba Center, Shofuso Japanese House and Gardens, and Winterthur Museum and Garden.
I’m limiting the workshop to six participants to make sure you get the individual help you need in the field as we photograph, and so that I can answer your questions during our evening talks.
Shofuso Japanese House and Gardens
The tentative schedule for the workshop is
Sunday May 5: Introductions, Review the Schedule for the Week. Capturing What You See.
Monday May 6: Longwood Gardens. Nuts and Bolts of Flower Photography.
Tuesday May 7: Winterthur Gardens. Quick Edits in Lightroom.
Wednesday May 8: Shofuso Japanese House and Gardens, Bertram’s Gardens. Image Review.
Thursday May 9: Chanticleer Gardens. Working with Textures in Photoshop.
Friday May 10: Mt. Cuba Center. Image Review.
Saturday May 11: Jenkins Arboreatum.
Final decisions about which gardens to visit will depend on schedule, weather and most importantly – what’s blooming where in early May!
The workshop will start after dinner on Sunday May 5 and end before noon on Saturday May 11.
Bleeding Hearts at Longwood Gardens
Each evening, we’ll gather for a talk on various aspects of flower photography and editing your photos.
Sunday: Capturing What You See. We’ll talk about composition, lens choice, depth of field and using a tripod.
Monday: Nuts and Bolts of Flower Photography. We’ll talk about F-stops, shutter speeds, ISO, exposure compensation and histograms.
Tuesday: Quick Edits in Lightroom. We’ll talk about a few quick edits you can make to your photos that will make them “pop”
Wednesday: Image Review. We’ll take a look at some of your images from the workshop to make sure you’re getting what you want in your photos.
Thursday: Working with Textures in Photoshop. We’ll talk about ways you can add another dimension to your photos using textures.
Friday: Image Review. We’ll take a look look at a few more of your photos from the week. And I’ll show you how I might edit some of them.
The registration fee for the workshop is $ 1500.
You can read more information about the workshop and register at https://beautifulflowerpictures.com/store/photographing-the-gardens-of-philadelphia-may-2019/
I’d love to have you join me for a week of photographing flowers in Philadelphia this spring.
Not sure if this workshop if right for you? Drop me a note and we’ll find a time to talk.
by hankinslawrenceimages | Oct 16, 2018 | Workshops
Have you photographed flowers or still life in a studio before? Do you know how to use continuous lights or strobes to light your subject? Do you not have anywhere you can practice your studio photography?
Plum Sunflower © 2018 Patty Hankins
If you’d like a chance to photograph flowers and still lifes in my studio, join Bill and me on Saturday November 17 for our first
Afternoon in the Studio
This isn’t a workshop. We won’t be teaching how to use our lights. Instead, it is a chance for you to spend an afternoon photographing my studio. We’ll have lots of flowers on hand to photograph. We’ll also have all my still life props and backgrounds available. We’ll have both our continuous lights and our strobes set up. And if the weather cooperates, we’ll have a window light set up available as well. You are welcome to bring flowers and/or still life props of your own along for the afternoon.
We’ll be there to help with the lights, props and ideas. But really, it’s a chance for you to come play in my studio.
Who is this for?
Interested but not sure if you have the equivalent experience of my workshop – drop me a note and we’ll hop on the phone and figure it out.
We’re limiting the session to 4 participants so we make sure everyone has plenty of time to photograph. We need a minimum of 2 people registered to hold the session. The registration fee for the afternoon is $ 199.
Pink & White Peony © 2018 Patty Hankins
The Afternoon in the Studio will take place on Saturday November 17 from 1 – 5 PM at our home in Bethesda.
All the information about our Afternoon in the Studio session, including registration information is at https://beautifulflowerpictures.com/afternoon-in-the-studio/
Not sure if this studio session is right for you? Drop me an email and we can find a time to talk.
by hankinslawrenceimages | Jul 27, 2018 | Workshops
If you follow me on social media, chances are you’ve noticed I’ve been spending a lot more time photographing in my studio than I am in the local gardens. It’s been one of those summers. Between a badly sprained ankle, hotter than usual temperatures, and what feels like days of never-ending rain, the studio is where I’ve been able to photograph this summer.
All right – it’s not just my ankle and the weather that have had me in the studio. I’ve realized that I love photographing flowers in my studio. It allows my inner control freak to take charge and create my photographs.
So I decided to share some of my reasons for photographing in the studio with you today – in case any of your inner control freaks want to take charge in a similar manner.
When I’m photographing in my studio, I get to choose the flowers I want to photograph. I just head over to my local farmers markets or the local floral wholesaler and choose whatever flowers catch my fancy. This summer, I’ve been exploring the wonderful flowers from local flower farms. It’s amazing what beautiful flowers are being grown nearby and the wonderful combinations of flowers the famers put in their bouquets. Here’s a peek at some of the local flowers I bought from PlantMasters and The Petal Patch Flower Farm.
![]()
I can photograph in my studio any time I want to. I just have to head into my family room and everything is ready to go. I don’t have to check the weather, or wonder how the light will be at a botanical garden. Instead, I can create whatever kind of light I want to use for photographing the flowers.
I can get as close to the flowers as I want to. In my studio I can put my tripod right up against the table and use multiple extension tubes to get within inches of the flowers I’m photographing. At a garden, I’m limited by where the flowers are in the beds. This spray rose was about 2 inches across when fully open. In my studio I was able to get close enough to fill the frame of my camera with it to capture this image.
Blush Parasol Spray Rose © 2018 Patty Hankins
![]()
I can arrange the flowers however I want to. One of my favorite ways to photograph flowers is to bring a bunch of blossoms close to each other and look for patterns and textures in the petals. In my studio, I can arrange the flowers exactly how I want to – removing leaves or blossoms that aren’t in the right place. At the gardens, I’m not able to move the flowers into arrangements I want to photograph.
![]()
And only in my studio do I get the help of my studio assistants, Dusty, Jackson and Ansel. Dusty loves to curl up in her own personal sunbeam under the lights. While Jackson and Ansel always try to take time to stop and taste the flowers.
If you would like to learn to photograph flowers in a studio (and maybe get to work with my assistants), join me on August 25 for my Photographing Flowers in the workshop. You’ll get a chance to work with my strobes, my continuous lights, the various modifiers, and backgrounds I use in my studio. And I’ll make sure to have some wonderful local flowers available for you to photograph.
![]()
You can learn more about the workshop at https://beautifulflowerpictures.com/flowers-in-the-studio-workshop-august-2018.
Be sure to register soon if you’d like to join me on August 25. The workshop is limited to four students – and two spaces are already filled.
by hankinslawrenceimages | Jun 29, 2018 | Workshops
As a flower photographer, summer means spending time photographing at local gardens and in my studio. If you love photographing flowers too, please join me at one of my upcoming workshops.
Imagine yourself photographing in a beautiful garden. Smelling the wonderful aromas. Hearing the songbirds in the woods. Learning how to take better photographs from a professional flower photographer. Getting to know other flower photographers. Getting the help you need to improve your photography.
Does this sound like something you’d like to do on a weekday morning in July? Come spend a couple of hours photographing with me at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Maryland – , Montgomery County premier botanical garden. Join me on July 26 for the first of my morning in the gardens workshops where I’ll help you improve your photography skills and take some wonderful photographs. And if you’d like, you can join me for a late breakfast at a local restaurant after we’re done at the gardens. The workshop is limited to 6 students so I can make sure to give each of you the individualized attention you need.
Visit https://beautifulflowerpictures.com/morning-at-brookside-gardens-july-26-2018/ for more information and to register for my July 26 Morning at Brookside Gardens Workshop.
Would you like to create photographs that show all the wonderful details of a flower the way my photos do? One way I create them is by photographing in the controlled environment of my studio. There I’m able to see and photograph colors, patterns, textures and shapes that most people never see. I’d love to show you how I create them during my August 25 Flowers in the Studio workshop. The workshop is limited to 4 students so everyone has plenty of time photographing in my studio.
Visit https://beautifulflowerpictures.com/flowers-in-the-studio-workshop-august-2018/ for more information and to register for my August 25 Flowers in the Studio Workshop.
Are you curious about Lightroom? Have you heard it’s a great program for editing your photos? Is it on your computer and you have no clue how to use it? Or how to edit your photos? Adobe Lightroom was developed by photographers for photographers to make organizing and editing our photos easier. It has very powerful features – even after only a weekend you will be able to make your photos look amazing. By editing your photos you can share your vision of what you photographed – not just what your camera captured. Join me on September 29 – 30 for my Introduction to Lightroom Workshop. The workshop is limited to 4 students so I can make sure you get the assistance you need as you move forward editing your photos.
Visit https://beautifulflowerpictures.com/introduction-to-lightroom-2/ for more information and to register for my September 29-30 Introduction to Lightroom Workshop.
If you have any questions about any of my upcoming workshops, or would like information about working individually with me on your photography or your photo editing, drop me a note and we’ll find time to talk.
