The Arboretum is a gem nestled in the heart of UCSC campus -- filled with shrubs, plants, and flowers from all over the world. On this bright and sunny Saturday morning, Aperture Academy instructor’s Alicia Telfer and Ellie Stone met a group of fellow photographers to explore and indulge in all of the Marco possibilities the botanical garden had to offer!

Starting with the tradition of introductions, students and both instructors cover their experience and what they are looking to get out of the workshop. Taking a bit of a different route around the gardens, they started off with the South African garden where the Protea nerifolia were in full bloom and full color! With so much to choose from- reds, oranges, and yellows! Both Ellie and Alicia pointed out a few different flowers to get started and gave a starting point for the settings on the student’s cameras. The instructors are always encouraging people to change up their shot, whether it be with the settings or their compositions! It’s always nice to return home with a full card and a variety of images! It is easy to get caught in one spot at the Arboretum because once you look around, there is SO much to photograph.

Moving down the world tour path, the group ventured deeper in to the African garden stopping in the warm sun to shoot some different varieties. Ellie pulled out her light diffusers and went over the differences of filtered light and direct sun light, both producing wondering, yet distinctly different images. It was a bit windy on this day as well, which cooled the sun on our faces, and allowed the instructors to stress the importance of fast shutter speeds on this day!

We headed around to the succulent garden to have a quick break and eat our snacks. Breaks are nice for resting, but it also time used to review images and give mini critiques on the students images, if they care for some feed back at that time! The succulents are perfect plants for macro photography, giving each photographer a chance to get some abstract-arty shots. We gathered this lively bunch for our famous “group shot” and encouraged everyone to stay and continue shooting with their new learned knowledge of their cameras and marco photography!

Until next time, Alicia, Ellie and the entire Aperture Academy team!

P.S. If you'd like to join us at one of our workshops, you can find the schedule/sign up here.