Looking for interesting details for photos

I have been visiting the farm a lot lately. Trying to push up my activity level, I have been going to the gym about 4:30 or 5:00 in the morning, visiting the farm for a walk mid morning and then an afternoon hike around the neighborhood. I don't always get in this "trifecta", but I do when I can. I figure I eat three times a day, why can't I exercise three times a day? I have had a lot of projects to do lately for EK Success, so not too successful in getting all of them in, but I do usually wake up every morning on the weights and elliptical. The walk at the farm is usually very "de-stressing". I listen to Celtic music on Pandora Internet radio and pretend I am walking around in Ireland...LOL! Take a little trip and never leave the farm...literally!

Anyway, even if you have been to a place many times, there are always interesting details to look for there that you might not have seen before.

First, you know how much I like framed photos. Here are a couple of examples. I used the barn above to frame the farmhouse in the background. Below, the farmhouse is framed by a tree and fence post.

I noticed this sweet gum ball lodged in the fork of limbs on this flowering tree. Kind of an old vs the new contrast.....plus a color and texture contrast. Look for unusual things like this as you are out and about. A bunch of sweet gum balls on the ground make a great background shot also. I remember when I taught art to elementary school kids, we would add pipe cleaner legs to these to make spiders.

Another interesting detail for which to look is shadows. Even a tight shot of just the shadow on the roof and the chimney would be good, but I wanted to show the beautiful blue sky we had after all the rains.

One of my lovely readers let us know that the purple ground cover weed was hen bit. She also asked for suggestions for taking photos in gardens. I would say the same things hold true for gardens as anywhere, plus, take the sign photos of plants that you don't know for future reference. Look for the blooms with the best lighting, get down low at the level of the flowers rather than from above as much as possible and get the big picture as well as the closeups. When possible include a shot that has the leaves as many plants are identified by the leaves as much as the bloom. She is a master gardener, so she knows much more about plants than I do. The big thing with photography is practice, practice, practice. Take you camera with you to everyday places you go.....like the farm! There are great subjects around us all the time!