Although a lot of the country may still be experiencing searing hot weather, once September rolls around, most of us gladly begin to anticipate fall and all of the abundant, ripe harvests that will come to fruition.

We’re thrilled that Charles Mann, a well-known photographer from Santa Fe, is the judge for this September’s Picture This contest. Charles, who has been a freelance and stock photographer for over 16 years, specializes in imagery of gardens, horticulture, New Mexico culture and southwestern scenic landscape. He has photographed four books : Cutting Edge Gardening In The Intermountain West, Secret Gardens of Santa Fe, Viva Guadalupe and Celebrating Guadalupe. His work has appeared in many magazines, including Horticulture, Organic Gardening, Country Living Gardener, Sunset, Fine Gardening, Phoenix Home & Garden, the Santa Fean, and Su Casa and for publishers such as Houghton Mifflin, Conran Octopus, and Storey Communications.  Charles has published essays from England, Japan, New Zealand, Italy, Majorca, Ireland, Alaska and from most major cities in the Western United States.

This is what Charles has to say about the challenge for September’s Picture This.

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The winners are in for this month’s Picture This Photo Contest. The judge, Allan Mandell, chose On The Road Again as the subject for August. Here are his picks. [Read more →]

I am supposed to editing all the photos I took of gardens while I was in Minnesota working with Evelyn Hadden on her “Lose Your Lawn” book.   But I just can’t get those prairies off my mind.

I do promise to bring this post back around to garden photography at the end.  This is a gardening blog after all.  Framing and composition are the theme today.  No matter what sort of landscape we photograph, our own garden or God’s, composition may be the most important element in deciding what we want to say, in what we want the viewer not to see. [Read more →]

The annual cactus and succulent show at the Los Angeles Arboretum is the largest in the world.  It’s a 2-hour drive for me, but I wouldn’t miss it. When I see a plant I’ve never seen before or a perfect specimen of something I’m familiar with, I go slack-jawed and stare. And this year there were dozens. [Read more →]

There are just a few days left to submit your entry for this month’s Picture This contest. The theme is “On the Road Again,” so take a look through your vacation pictures to find a great shot to share with the rest of us. It doesn’t have to be an exotic location; if it’s outside of your own garden, it’s fair game. It’s easy to enter: post your chosen photo on your own blog, then visit Fran’s first-of-the-month announcement post (Picture This Photo Contest for August 2010) and leave us two links: one to your post and one directly to your photo. The deadline for entries is 11:59 PM Eastern time on Saturday, August 21, 2010.

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