Just as painters take their easels out into the garden to paint in the open air, I've set up a plein air scanning studio in my backyard to scan my garden in situ.
Image:
That really is the blue sky you see in the background... as the sun sets the background changes from light blue (or a turquoise shade) to a deep, rich indigo. A fleeting hue is a faded chambray...I might have a ten to fifteen minute window to grab a few scans. Scanning outdoors is a real challenge-first, you've got to work fast, and the weather conditions must be exactly right- then the values must be controlled with exacting precision. Early in the day delicate, translucent effects are possible. The capture looks more like a watercolor painting than a photograph. To the best of my knowledge I seem to be the only artist crazy enough to haul all my hardware outside to do such a thing. What made me do this you ask? Well, a couple years ago I did a demonstration under a tent. While I was arranging my set-up I realized that I was capturing the sky in my scanner. So I dragged the tables out from under the tent. A year later I enlarged my back porch to accomodate an outdoor studio. Who wants to be stuck inside at the computer on a beautiful summer day anyway?! Not I!
See these and other "plein air" compositions.
my garden studio set-up
Jack-in-the-Pulpit arranged on the scanner.
I've carefully unearthed my Jacks roots and all, then arranged them on the platen. I started scanning around 2:30 pm (the turquoise background) and continued making periodic captures until twilight (the indigo background). These Jacks stayed fresh- a lot of specimens don't stand up to this long a sitting! Then I returned the Jacks to their spot under my hostas. A project such as this requires a lot of patience! But the results are worth all the trouble. I'd bought an expensive scanner with an 8 x 10 transparency backlight thinking I could create some delicate light backrounds with it. Turned out it just wasn't worth the effort- and the lighting effect was not only unreliable but confined to too small an area. The sun is a far, far better (not to mention cheaper!) backlight than any transparency unit!
