Earlier this month we visited these gardens during public visiting hours; I took with me a fish-eye lens to try and get photos with a different perspective:
A fish-eye lens give a very wide angle of view but distorts the image to the side of the frame but, in an image like this, the distortion is not really noticeable – you would need to point it out to most people. This photo is of the Dutch Garden; I like this for the view it encompasses in one shot – normally I would need to use panoramic stitching techniques to get such a view. For this shot I am standing next to the topiary on the left and the pot of hyacinths on the right is very close. But it works…
The wide view is useful for showing the inside of the glasshouses:
This may not look as if it was taken with a fish-eye lens (apart from the curvature of the rear wall) but this view would not be possible without a very angle wide lens or by using stitching techniques. I think it looks quite natural and would probably puzzle people (non-photographers) who would try and replicate it without such equipment or techniques.
This one beautifully demonstrates the distortion these lenses produce:
But the amount of the room shown is quite staggering – you would need to be there to appreciate the fact.
I also tried some low viewpoint shots:
This shows polyanthus in one of the borders. The nearest flowers are only about a foot or so from the lens – I am pleased with the way this turned out. If I was doing it again I would turn the camera a little more to the left to reduce the amount of the path showing although I could crop this out.
Finally, one of my favourites:
This shows Clianthus in flower in the Mediterranean Garden. Again, I was only about a foot from the main part of the plant. Very little distortion is apparent in this view. I find the red flowers contrast will against the green foliage. I also find that blue sky with some fluffy clouds is better than a plain blue sky – although I prefer a plain blue sky to a dull overcast one!
The full set of photos can be seen in the EROV gallery but they are not together, the gallery is organised by garden.