PDB Pictures

Since joining this great site I have more or less avoided the Plant Data Base threads. For two reasons: I am not sure if the photos have to be from our own gardens and/or from our own photo taking. And two, most of my photos are taken to show a certain plant in concert with others in the landscape. No close ups to show the flower. I will be going to a Conservatory in the next few weeks to take photos for a web site and would like, at the same time, to enter them in the PDB. Any suggestions?

Take LOTS and LOTS of photos! (Just kidding! Well, sorta.)

Okay, to address your concerns:

1. Do the photos have to be my own?
In most cases yes. Of course, you can borrow your mother's, neighbor's, or best friend's photos if they don't mind. "Public domain" photos are okay, too. But most websites that post photos get a little (lot) miffed to have their photos "borrowed" and placed on another website. Even those that say the photos "can be used for non-commercial purposes" should be contacted first to see if it's okay. And if we already have a good photo of that plant, I'd say save yourself the hassle and headache, and don't bother trying to get approval to use it.

2. Do the photos have to be of my own gardens/plants?
Nope. But don't blame us if you get shot for trespassing. Just kidding - obviously, if you're willing to take your camera, you can get shots at the nursery, arboretums, plant sales, or your neighbor's garden.

3. What if my photos aren't closeups?
In a word, the answer is...cropping. Any decent photo editing software will allow you to crop an image nine ways to Sunday, and you can expand the cropped portion to be a good size for viewing (640x480 is ideal.)

Other pointers - whatever you're using, figure out a system (beforehand) to track what you're shooting. A digital camera usually allows you to enter a caption of sorts, but that can be kind of a hassle. Better bet, take along a sheet of paper (on a clipboard, perhaps) and jot down the name of each plant as you snap the photo. Keeping them in sequence will allow you to quickly match up your notes to the images when you get them developed or load the digital images.

If you're using a 35 mm non-digital camera, I personally recommend using Snapfish, an online photo service that hosts your photos on the web and sends you back your prints and negatives. The prices are great, the photos are good quality (Kodak paper), quickly processed, and the images on the web are the perfect size for copying over to the PDB. (And yes, I think I could get a referral for directing you to their site, but I never bother, lolol. They just happen to be one of my personal favorite online services.)

And (most of all) HAVE FUN on your visit to the conservatory :)

Thanks, I will have to look into cropping. Seems like I had three reasons, not two.

Golddog, I have taken a some photos from parks, conservatories, plant shows, etc that I have posted on the PDB. My only additional suggestion to Vols is that if you take some at a Plant Sale or Show, ask permission first. Almost always you will receive permission, plus an offer of a cutting! You can also get great notes about the plant that may not be obvious from looking at it. I got some wonderful info about Cactus & Succulents that way (along with a few stems of gorgeous cactus to root) :D

And best of all: no hassles with my conscience: but noone will notice a little "finger blight". Seriously, I never take cuttings without specific request and permission from the plant owner, but I do know how tempting it can be.

Have a great time at the conservatory! Is it a local one? Have you been there before? Do tell! We have a great local one: I adore going to it, and am seriously considering becoming a volunteer there.

Yes, I have one more page available on my web site. So I thought I would do photos of Phipps Conservatory. http://www.phipps.conservatory.org Because the photos take up so much room, I put them all on a photo site and then 'refer' to them. A la http://www.zyworld.com/informalgarden/Page%201.htm

I take closeups and faraways for the PDB. ;) I like to see what a plant looks like in it's entirety. One plant I recently added photos to was Coral Vine. It goes NUTS if you don't keep it in bounds and I wanted to show that, BUT it was growing with other overgrown plants and was hard to pick just it out of the mash. So here was my solution: http://plantsdatabase.com/showpicture/10928/ Not very pretty, but VERY utilitarian and helpful to those who want to make up their mind whether or not to grow it and just WHERE to put it once they get it.