May Visit to East Ruston Old Vicarage

A couple of week ago we made our monthly visit to see the gardens at East Ruston Old Vicarage:

Ceanothus in the Californian Borders and Desert Wash

We made our visit during the afternoon of a normal opening day. Although it was quite busy with many cars and a few coaches in the car park, we managed to avoid most of the visitors, although there were a few views I couldn’t take because of the other visitors. As we were in the public visiting hours I couldn’t use a tripod – all the photos from this visit were hand-held.

The weather was fine with blue sky and fluffy white clouds. However, it was rather breezy which limited my normal technique for taking the photographs. I was satisfied with the results in most cases though.

In the view above,  I wanted to show the wisteria that grows to the side of the Dutch Garden in context with the house.  This view is a compromise between showing the wisteria at a reasonable size yet still showing a substantial portion of the house.

From the same viewpoint I shot this second image to show the whole of the house:

wisteria in the dutch garden

This photo, I feel, is fine as it stands but the wisteria is reduced to being part of the garden rather than a main feature. So which one is the better would depend on the context the image is being used for.

The Mediterranean garden was looking good with it being full of flowers and foliage. I liked the look this view shows with the building being crowded by all the foliage:

mediterranean garden

As always (although it is my wife’s least favourite garden), the Desert Wash and Californian Borders was brilliant in the sun:

Desert Wash

I love this view for the detail and interest: The bridge is mid-centre (which is a no-no for some camera club judges) with the sculpture on the right being ‘on a third’ i.e. off-centre (a plus for these judges). But there is also interest and detail throughout the photo. My favourite from the day.

The full set of images can be seen within the East Ruston Old Vicarage Gallery, but they are not in a single place as the gallery is organised by garden or view.

Author: Paul L.G. Morris

I am an amateur photographer whose photography is mostly of gardens, nature and the rural environment. My specialities are close-ups, panoramic views, or a combination of both that I call 'Nearscapes'. I work mostly for my own interest having closed my business PM Studios Ltd.