Member Anne May won “Best in Show” at the GCA’s Annual Meeting Flower Show in Baltimore, Maryland in May 2017
The Flower Show Committee of the Santa Fe Garden Club has as its objectives to stimulate interest and educate club members regardless of expertise and experience in the art of floral design; to enhance the quality of the Floral Design Division in all flower shows; to encourage club members to participate in floral design activities, especially in the juried flower shows which are open to the public; and to share the beauty and artistry of this discipline with all SFGC members.
The Santa Fe GardenSanta Fe Garden Club Floral Design Resources 2021
These days every media features inspiring articles and tutorials related to floral design. As informative as these resources are, you need to get your hands dirty and actively design to truly learn and refine your skills.
GARDEN CLUB OF AMERICA
If you don’t do anything else, go to the GCA Website and click on the GCA Committee Pages. Scroll down and select Floral Design. You will be taken to a listing of numerous tutorials, tips, workshops and suggested books. By Design, the free quarterly publication about floral design can also be accessed on this site. While you are there, read about SPRING TIDE, the virtual floral design conference scheduled for
Thursday, April 8, 2021. This conference is free and features Hitomi Gilliam, Holly Chapple and Jane Godshalk. This conference features information and techniques for novices and veterans alike. Registration begins the second week of March.
MAGAZINES
• BY DESIGN is free and can be downloaded through the GCA Website. It provides information on mechanics, design styles, gorgeous step-by-step photos of design construction and recommendations of other resources.
• FUSION FLOWERS published in the UK provides the European perspective on
floral design and designers with the latest techniques and trends. It can be purchased by hardcopy or digitally.
• FLORISTS REVIEW is geared towards professional florists and details trends, styles and strategies impacting the floral design industry.
BOOKS
• Every month numerous floral design books are published with seductively beautiful arrangements. Enjoy looking at the photos and reading the writeups, and choose what strikes your fancy.
• The following books recommended by Nancy D’Oench are amongst the classics:
“The Yellow Book”, The Flower Show and Judging Guide: The Garden
Club of America, on line on the GCA website.
The Fine Art of Flower Arranging: A Garden Club of America Book
Flower Arranging the American Way: A World Association of Flower
Arrangers Book
Ascher, Amalie Adler, The Complete Flower Arranger
Belcher, Betty, Creative Flower Arranging
Hamel, Esther Veramae, Encyclopedia of Judging and Exhibiting
Johnson, McKinley, and Benz, Flowers: Creative Design
Arms, John Taylor and Dorothy Noyes Arms, Design in FlowerArrangement
Graves, Maitland, The Art of Color and Design
Reister, Dorothy W., Design for Flower Arrangers
Sutter, Anne Bernat, New Approach to Design Principles: A Comprehensive Analysis of Design Elements and Principles in Floral Design.
Webb, Iris, The Complete Guide to Flower and Foliage Arrangements
WEBSITES, FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, YOUTUBE, PODCASTS, BLOGS, SEMINARS & TUTORIALS
These days top floral designers are like rock stars, each with their following and fans. To stay on top of their art they tirelessly publish photos of their works and the techniques and approaches they utilize to achieve their magic. Many are excellent teachers and mentors for beginning designers and offer lessons, some of which are without charge.
• The following is just a beginning list of designers with different styles and aesthetics, but each with a passion for floral design. Google their names to scratch the surface. Scrolling through the work of these artists on Instagram is a beautiful way to prepare for sleep.
Christine de Beer ~ Holly Chapple ~ Ariella Chezar ~ Hitomi Gilliam
Jane Godshalk ~ Bart Hassam ~ Gregor Lersch ~ Amy McGee ~ Darroch and Michael Putnam ~ Daniel Santa Maria ~ Alicia Schwede ~Francoise Weeks
INTERNET FLOWERS
Living in the high desert, obtaining flowers can be difficult. If you can, work with your local florist to order flowers. However, the Internet offers wholesale sites from which you can order. These may be more cost effective but the quality and the condition of the flowers vary. Always take photos if you believe you should receive a refund. Reputable suppliers will honor requests that are accompanied with proof of damaged products.
• For tropical flowers, Green Point Nurseries.com in Hawaii is excellent!
• Fiftyflowers.com
• Bloomsbythebox.com
• Flowermoxie.com
CONTAINERS AND MECHANICS
• Michaels offers various vases, containers and floral products
• Thrift stores, consignment stores and garage sales are a treasure trove for unusual containers.
• Ebay and Overstock.com always have interesting containers at good prices
• Directfloral.com offers containers, baskets, accessories and mechanics
• Amazon offers almost anything
Club has periodic Flower and Photography shows that are open to the public. The following is a list of resources for Floral Design and photography follows that.
And now to Photography Resources:
GCA WEBSITE PHOTOGRAPHY FILMS, Reviewed by Sharon Dowsett, Digits Chair, Portland Garden Club
The list below is not comprehensive, but represents several “most useful” films. Follow the Water is included because it is an excellent example of photography telling a story in support of conservation. Films are available by going to the GCA Committees > Photography webpage. Explore and enjoy!
The Art of Seeing with a Camera: “Six Lectures in Photography by Professor David Ulrich” Professor, photographer, and author David Ulrich presents a series of 6 half-hour lectures underwritten by the
Garden Club of Honolulu and customized for the specific needs of the Garden Club of America and for photographers of all levels of experience. They are:
(1) Introduction to Photographic Vision – How do we see the world? Show, don’t tell.
(2) Five Principles of Visual Expression with a Camera – Frame, light, moment, color, subject.
(3) Cultivating the Art of Seeing – Learn to see how a camera sees. Discussion of aperture.
(4) Creativity with a Camera: Tools and Tips – Discussion of resolution, sensor size, pixels, shutter speed.
(5) Authenticity – Discovering Your Unique Vision and Style – Accept as true what you think. (6) Photography of the Land – As a sense of place, as autobiography, as metaphor. An excellent series. It combines basic how-to information with examples by well-known photographers, including Ansel Adams
and Minor White. Each lecture is accompanied by secondary material including discussion questions and a study guide with self-paced assignments. Well worth investing your time to watch.
Photography 101: Getting to Know Your Digital Camera This is a no-nonsense, step by step introduction to using a Nikon or similar digital camera by Garden Club of Dayton member Sandra Bergsten. She covers all the basics: battery and memory card, date and time, image quality, ISO and white balance, shutter speed, and much more. Additional videos cover topics such as Elements of Composition and Exposure and Depth of Field. Great tips at your fingertips.
Follow the Water Michael Forsberg chronicles the 55-day adventure of two photographers and conservationists across the Continental Divide and the Colorado/Platte Rivers watershed, asking “where water comes from and why we should care.” Of particular interest are time lapse films of the Platte Basin documenting a year of water. This is photography with a message: “Everyone lives in a watershed. (Forsberg presented @ 2021 Photography Conference.)
II. NEWS FROM EDDIE SOLOWAY
“I will be teaching A Natural Eye: The Expressive Landscape at the Santa Fe Workshops July 5-9, and I imagine those details will go live in the next few weeks.
Lastly, I have proposed a four-part webinar with GCA, and if that were to come to fruition, I imagine everyone will be notified.”
Suggested Camera Phone Apps from the GCA Photography Conference
Snapseed
Camera + 2
Photoshop Fix
Brushstroke IPhone and IPad only
Painterly
Adobe Paint Can IPhone and IPad only
Circular Tiny Planet Editor IPhone and IPad onlyFormulas IPhone and IPad only
Photofox
iColorama S IPhone
Aartleap by Lightricks
Mextures
Slow Shutter
Touch/Retouch
Image Blender
SuperImpose
Glazee
GCA Photography CommitteeOnline Learning Photography Resources
8.18.20
Workshops that have moved online:
Maine Media Workshops and College, Rockport Maine
• Offers a wide range of photography workshops, plus video and writing.
Santa Fe Photography Workshops, Santa Fe, New Mexico
• Like Maine Media, they are a classroom-based workshop that has pivoted to offering a
number of online photography workshops.
Out of Chicago Hands-On Photography Workshops,
• They have an extensive roster of renowned photographers who lead their weekend-long and new online sessions. Focus is on nature photography.
Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass, Colorado
• They offer a wide range of art classes, including photography, nationally recognized instructors
North Light Photographic Workshops
• Instruction focuses on alternative processes. Individual instructors offering online learning in keeping with GCA’s mission.
Colleen Miniuk – landscape, macro, inspiration, blog, ebook, live webinars (space is limited/$5), webinars on demand (Vimeo). GCA Photography Study Group Workshop Instructor Denise Ippolito –nature, floral photography, abstractions, and Photoshop tutorials, blog, and ebooks that include step-by-step instruction on postprocessing. GCA Photography Study Group Workshop. Instructor.Eddie Soloway – inspirational, meditative, nature-focused, blog
Douglas Beasley – art of Zen and photography
Kathleen Clemons – floral, Lensbaby advocate, blog, ebook – All About Textures, classes offered on creativelive.com, LensBaby.com and the Santa Fe Workshops. Harold Davis – Numerous webinars on floral, lightbox, black & white conversions, postprocessing Photoshop and Lightroom. Generally $20 fee, some webinars offered free of charge.
Mike Moats – macro
Jackie Kramer – offers a series of photography webinars Institutional/Corporate/Technical learning resources
The following resources offer online instruction by video tutorials or ebooks/PDFs on photography fundamentals and post-processing in Photoshop and Lightroom. Also covered are management, organizing, and archiving. Some address how to capture, edit and share mobile
photos.
Adobe.com – Beginner through advanced comprehensive instruction on Photoshop and Lightroom (Adobe products), how-to tutorials, compositing, shoot and edit mobile photos (mobile Lightroom), prep, share and post photos.
Lynda.com – Photoshop and Lightroom tutorials. Beginner through advanced techniques, photo management, organizing and archiving, iphone photography, Instagram tutorials.
Visualwilderness.com – landscape photography techniques,
Video courses and specific tutorials (purchase per subject or subscribe for complete library access), ebooks, blog
Creativelive.com Photoshop and Lightroom tutorials, shooting and post-processing techniques, photography fundamentals, specific genres, iphoneography. Purchase by class or annual full access
subscription.
Apple.com – for iPhone tips on capture, editing, and sharing photos. Source for iphone photography accessories.
KelbyOne.com – Photoshop and Lightroom learning resources, online courses addressing composition and exposure, and genres such as landscape, portrait, macro, and travel photography.
Julianne Kost – “Principal Digital Imaging Evangelist, Adobe”; Photoshop and Lightroom indepth tutorials, technique-specific and short cuts (camera raw, photo-compositing, diptychs).
Easy to follow. Tim Grey Learning (courses) & Ask Tim Grey (newsletter) – Mastering Lightroom Classic and Photoshop courses, How to Clean Up Your Mess in Lightroom (popular), workflow suggestions,
and backing up libraries and image files. Offers an iphone photography course.
Publications and miscellaneous other online resources:
Focus magazine, of course!The issues are all available on the GCA website and are informative and inspiring to go through.
Of particular interest for this reference sheet is the article “Armchair Amble Through Cyberspace: Web Resources in Photography”, by Dana Parker, The Virginia Beach Garden Club, Zone VII, December 2019.
GCA Photography Committee Page on the GCA website offers a link to Focus Magazine (current and past issues), Contests (online and traditional Flower Show calendar and schedules), Focus on Our Photographers featuring the work of GCA photographers, upcoming
GCA Judging workshops and GCA Photography Study Group workshop offerings and recaps.
Technical Tips for Digital Photography includes many resources and tutorials that address basic to advanced issues developed by and for GCA photographers. These tutorials can be especially helpful when preparing to enter images in a show. Photography and Flower Shows, Photography Awards, and Photography Committee Manual.
Lenscratch daily online magazine showcasing a wide variety of photographic artists
Rfotofolio.org A non-profit group that showcases works by and interviews with individual
photographic artists
Instagram – A terrific resource for photography inspiration. Check out photographers and consider sharing your work.
CURRENT/UPCOMING online workshops:
Eddie Soloway – Watch website for future offerings
Eyes Wide Open – The Joy of Nature Photography – hosted by the Chicago Botanical Garden 4 Thursdays, Aug. 6 – 27, 7-8pm (CDT) All four sessions$99 (non-member)/$79 (member)“Four rich photographic sessions—to honor your creative self. Learn how to make pictures that
soar past postcards, and capture what you are feeling, what you are seeing, and what you are thinking. The first three sessions will end with a creative photographic challenge. The last session will showcase the results of the challenge with a full group slide show, including selective commentary. Get ready for ideas to set you free, to shake you out of ruts, and charge you up to make new photographs. All registrations must be submitted online 2 days before your class starts.”
Out of Chicago In-Depth
A Live Online Photography Workshop Weekend (multiple professional instructors)Attend 4 two-hour in-depth workshop sessions with two instructors per classDeep Dive Sessions Aug. 21-23
Image Reviews Sept. 2nd & 3rd
$400 (Less $50 discount with code GIBB) – Colleen Miniuk is teaching and offering the same discount.
University of California Botanical Gardens iphoneography with Yoni Mayeri Thurs., Aug. 27, 10 am-12 noon (Pacific time)
GCA member, Yoni Mayeri (Orinda Garden Club)
“Learn how to take professional-quality photographs and perform basic and advanced photo editing with your iOS device. Live demonstrations will guide you through the native camera
features and offer tips for optimizing shooting with a mobile device.”
Yoni is also teaching Fall quarter through Stanford Continuing Studies: iPhoneography: Using Your Smartphone to Make Extraordinary Images.Photography at the Summit (photographyatthesummit.com/nature/ for in-person workshops)
Summit Sprint: Finding Your Photographic Compass – Jim Richardson, Nat Geo PhotographerAug. 29, 2020 – Four 90-minute sessions $399
Subjects will include:
• Finding photographic subjects that you care about
• Building a body of work
• Escaping the trap of overworked photographic genres
• Making pictures that have meaning and value
• Building your photographic identity
• Making a difference with your photography
• Creating a career with purpose
• Student Level Advanced, intentional, serious, ambitious.
Denise Ippolito
New presentations/workshops will be offered starting in late October. Check her website