Framed continued

The main attraction of our Framed project was to be a pair of photos, or thereabouts, per person, of or relating to the original works we created and briefly displayed in the windows of Lewers House.

I had no interest in photographing my ink painting in any way or context for display as a photo, and the day for shooting was a little breezy so unfurling such a large thin sheet of paper outside was unlikely to end well.
An insight into that day of photography is available here.
I decided on using a long exposure light painting technique I learnt last year and had success adapting to botanical photography, to depict the same subjects as the painting.

Light painting involves setting a camera on a tripod with the subject in focus, setting the parameters for a long exposure, then shining a torch over the parts of the subject you want to show up or be emphasised in the photo while the shutter is open. This allows for a very selective interpretation, but the technique is limited to subjects that are very still.
Though in its most common form light painting is just used to make a mess.

I initially wanted to recreate the painting composition by digitally combining several photos, but there were a number of obstacles preventing this. Light painting necessitates low light and the gallery grounds are not normally accessible in the evening. The staff had very kindly arranged for me to have an hour after normal closing time one evening, which I knew wouldn't be anywhere near long enough to photograph all the necessary specimens, part of the hour would be taken up by waiting for it to get dark enough. Half the plants weren't in the same flowering state I had painted them in. There is a lot of fluorescent lighting around the garden preventing light painting photography of many of the intended subjects. And we had decided on a uniform 72x52cm print size for all photos in the exhibition, which is not a ratio that would allow for a repeat of the same composition anyway. Also, I don't enjoy collaging so it's probably for the best.
Fortunately, the pond and one thicket of bamboo were in a position conducive to light painting so that's what I spent most of the hour shooting, usually with exposures of 4-8 seconds.

Xuan Bamboo I
The orange-red is from a street light. Over the road is the Nepean River.

Xuan Bamboo II


Echinodorus amazonicus
Named for the emerged growth of same plant. I grow several specimens in aquariums, as with many bog plants it has a different form of growth depending on its condition. Long spear shaped leaves and fine branching flower stems when emersed as pictured, a rosette of long blades propagating by plantlets along a runner when submerged.
The Echinodorus aren't a heritage listed part of the garden, the lilies are. Not sure about the duckweed. I was a bit disappointed that there are no fish in the pond, not even any snails.

The complete collection of photographic works in the exhibition can be viewed here.