Stourhead Photo Essay

On the 14th of October we went to Stourhead. Stourhead was the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen! I really enjoyed walking around the big pond and feeling like I was wondering in a hidden garden. The first picture that I took is from the when we were headed down to the pathway of the gardens. I was really drawn to this building because of the contrasting colors of the building and the vines growing up the side. It reminds me of some little house that an old couple would live in, because of all the plants that were growing outside and how well maintained they were.

This next picture is of the bridge that was at the front of the gardens and was closed at the time we were there for maintenance. The Apollo Temple was also under restoration, so we weren't able to see it either. Its just our luck to come when its closed! I really wanted to take a picture of this bridge so that you could see some of the gardens in the background and to portray the serene feel of the lake. I also love how you can get the idea of how large the trees were here. Some of the trees were taller than four or five story buildings! Also along the pathway that went all around the lake there were signs indicating what types of trees were there and some interesting facts about them. Under this picture I added a really unique tree that reminded me of the movie My Neighbor Totoro.

I added this picture because the ducks here were nothing like the ones at Hyde Park. They were minding their own business and they never begged for our food!

I really like this picture because its focusing more on the tree and the intense red leaves than the actual background. I also liked how in the distance you can see some red trees and a little building makes this picture seem more meaningful. I also like the shadows that provide another aesthetic quality, giving some depth to the tree and the background. I think that I was drawn to this tree because it stood out so much from every other tree in the gardens because of its placement by the waters edge and the scenic view. I've also provided a closeup on some berry's that I found on this path. I guess anything with red stood out to me at the gardens.

The feel that this picture gives me makes me feel like I'm in a forest and I've just made it to an opening in the trees and I have this beautiful view of a lake and sky. It also gives me the feeling of someone watching me and helping me find my way through the trees. The leafs are sparse on these trees, which can symbolize that there is something important behind them that you cant see. I also like this angle because it makes you feel as though you are in the picture and feeling small in comparison to these trees.

This last picture is one of my favorites. I love how I was able to get the tree to sort of frame the side of the picture and then i got the yellow plants in front of the lake into it too. Also to add some more interest to the landscape I was able to get the little building on the hill of grass. I really like how the shadows hit the right side of the tree and the sunspots on the right side of the tree from the leafs. I actually sharpened this picture a little bit so that the leafs in the foreground were more defined and I wanted more of the focus on the building in the distance. I also like how the lines of the lake lead your eye down to the left of the picture, but then the top of the tree leads you back the right and down to the bottom of the picture.