Personal Work | Tree Tops Park

A few days ago, my friend, Marc, called to tell me he was “looking” at a Canon 5D MkII.  Now, we photographers know that’s code for, “It’s as good as bought.”  The conversation started out innocently: “Do you think it’s a good camera? Would you buy it?” Blah, blah, blah. Yeah, he was looking for validation.

So, I did what any decent photographer friend should do.  I said, “Eh, the camera you have is good enough, so don’t buy another one unless you think you really need it,” which is basically code for, “Buy the camera already so we can go shoot!”  Besides, as any self-respecting male of our hapless species will tell you, when a friend buys something really expensive, it’s almost a free pass to make a purchase of your own down the road.  Thanks, buddy!  (Note to self: your wife reads this blog. Delete last sentence.)

Long story short, my friend did buy the camera and we were off to play last weekend.  After much hemming and hawing on where to shoot–studio or location–we headed out to Tree Tops Park here in South Florida.  It’s been a while since I shot some nature stuff, so I was excited to get out there and shoot.  No gig.  No pressure.  Just good conversation and casual shooting.

Actually, from the first frame, I had this idea to shoot and style the whole day like a botanical excursion with pictures that you find in a dusty old textbook.  Not that I’m much of a naturist, or is that naturalist?  Oh well, either way, it was fun.  Below are some shots from the day.  Kudos to my new friends at the UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research who helped me identify some of the flora, for which you can see common and scientific names on several of the images.