A few weeks ago I led a photography workshop at the North Carolina Botanical Garden in Chapel Hill. We had a great time and plenty of soft light, perfect for spring wildflowers. I asked the participants to send me their favorite images from the day and share something they learned during the workshop. Below are some highlights from the responses I received.

“Thank you for showing me that good photography requires me to slow down and pay attention.” – Karen Carelli

“I did not see the beauty and calm of this image until I brought the image closer which filtered out most of the background. The remaining branches in the background give a 3 D feeling to the picture. The two red berries became the focal point. The photo gives me the feeling of the quiet and serenity of a Japanese garden.” -David Helm

“The most important lesson for me: in creative work, don’t discard a piece until you understand why it was bad – understand your mistakes! To me, this learning point applies to all creative work and explains why some people succeed and others don’t.” – Phyllis Demko

Green Anole

This is the only image I shot that day. I spent most of the time helping participants make their own images with their cameras so I didn’t even take my camera out of the bag until the moment this image happened. I created this image toward the end of the day as I was sitting in the garden with one of the participants, just chatting about photography in general, not working on an image. I noticed a green anole peeping out of the vegetation as a shaft of sunlight just caught his face. I am sure I did not complete the sentence I was in the middle of as I grabbed my camera and slowly moved into position to make this image. Often the best photo opportunities happen when you are just sitting and watching.