Welcome to another Valentine’s’ day. I was never a big fan of the holiday, it’s one that has the potential to make lots of people uncomfortable. Those who don’t have a significant other are bombarded with reminders of it, and those who have may feel uncertain about how to celebrate, or that celebrations fall short of expectations. Regardless, it’s a bad day to go out: every nice restaurant is full. On the flip side, however, it’s a good day for business: there isn’t much else going on in February.
I started this post going on a tangent and now that I have it off my chest, I can go straight to the point of this post: when I was in Brazil, back in October 2024, I went to the Botanical Gardens in Rio de Janeiro with the purpose of photographing plants. The day was sunny and we were in a drought. The light was bad, there was also a breeze.
When conditions are bad for botanical photography, patterns and textures sometimes save the day. At the entrance of the gardens, there is a long row of very old palm trees that display an array of lichens on their bark, making up for fun abstract patterns.
In order to photograph these patterns, it’s important that they are illuminated by soft, even light. Also, make sure that you have a shutter speed that is consistent with your lens’s focal length (twice the focal length number is often a good shutter speed), and narrow aperture. A tripod may come in handy. The FEATURED PHOTOGRAPH (1/200, f/10, ISO 640 at 105 mm) was taken in the shade, with the camera on a tripod.
The gallery below shows the photographs of bark presented in this blog.
I have other bark images in my collection “Tree Bark” . Remember that patterns are everywhere, and they are accessible to almost any photographer with a cell phone and a bit of imagination. They can be turned into appealing pieces of wall art that are politically neutral, colorful and upbeat. They look great in alternative print media such as acrylic, metal and wood.
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Wall Art landscapes and miscellaneous
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It is all about the light 
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