Garden Fotos

Print and Digital Versions of OG

Patrick Montero — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:00:22 +0000

I was originally going to include this bit in my last post but decided at the last minute that it deserved to be highlighted on its own. One of my goals here is to create a more well-rounded visual experience for our readers, this goes for both the digital and print versions.

Tom photographing the lanterns for the We Like This section in both light and dark

I’m really excited about the ‘Evening Lighting’ story for the ‘We Like This’ section. In this issue we’ve done something a bit different. We actually did two separate photo shoots for the print and digital editions. The first shoot was done in our studio and the photos were used in the iPad and our website. I had Tom photograph each lantern with the lights turned on and, making sure to not move the lanterns, re-shot them with the lights turned off. The idea was to allow our readers to go to our website and scroll over the images of the lanterns and watch how it flips to reveal the lantern turned on. A similar action was created for the iPad where you could just tap on one of the lanterns and they will switch on. If you haven’t seen it yet you should go check it out, here’s the link to the slide show: http://www.organicgardening.com/living/five-best-garden-lights

I think it’s pretty nifty!

Emmaus, Pa photographer, Alison Conklin, photographing the lanterns at the Rodale Working Tree Center

For the magazine we wanted to illustrate the lanterns in a more natural setting and not serve up plain product shots. So we arranged the lanterns throughout the Rodale Working Tree Center and waited for the sunset, which took way longer than I had anticipated and we ended up waiting around for almost two hours before we were able to start photographing the lanterns.

This is just an example of some of the features you can expect from us moving forward. We’ll be investing in our digital properties at the same time not compromising the integrity of the magazine. We’ll never put any information in our digital version that isn’t available in the magazine, although, because space is nearly limitless on the web, you’ll be able to see more photos from our photo shoots and maybe a few videos here and there. If you have any suggestions for what else we can do for either the web and iPad please send me an email at: patrick.montero@rodale.com

Cheers!

Patrick

A few behind-the-scene shots…

Patrick Montero — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 15:19:21 +0000

August/September 2012 issue of Organic Gardening Magazine

I’m really excited about the August/September 2012 issue of Organic Gardening Magazine because I was more involved with the photography for this issue than I was for the June/July 2012 issue.

You might have also noticed that there was an extra feature or two for the iPad and web versions. You can expect to see more of these special interactive additions to our digital versions. We have lots of fun stuff planned for the next several issues, so stay tuned!

Our Deputy Editor, Doug Hall, hand modeling for the Pay Dirt story.

You’ve probably seen Doug’s hands dozens of times in our magazine. He’s always happy to lend a hand (pun intended) to help us get the best possible photo. Two of the soil samples shown in the story were taken from mine and Doug’s yards, the other two were taken from my parent’s home in New York. It was great to see my folks’ expression when I asked, “Mom, do you have a few small plastic baggies so I can dig up some of the dirt in your yard and bring it back to work with me?”

Staff photographer Thomas MacDonald trying to get the faux flower to stand up-right

We did a craft story about faux flowers that were made using found or recycled objects. It was a challenge to keep the flowers up-right, luckily Tom had some type of puddy to hold them up. It took a few tries but the end result is very pretty.

Pumpkin smoothie being held up by a plum

The glasses we decided to use for the Super Smoothies shoot were very tall, so to conserve on the amount of fruits we were using the Art Director, Gavin, was trying to think of a way to elevate the smoothie some how. Luckily our Associate Editor, Katie Walker, suggested we just throw a plum in there. And to our surprise it worked exceptionally well. The plum didn’t let a single drop of smoothie get by!

Joining the OG team

JeanneEmery — Thu, 03 May 2012 16:45:52 +0000

Since some of you out there might have noticed some changes in the masthead in recent issues I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself. Hello! My name is Patrick Montero and I’m OG’s new photo editor. It’s been quite a ride since I joined Organic Gardening back in January and I’ve been enjoying every moment of it. I figured I’d take a moment to give you a quick glance at some of the things I’ve been up to since I started:

February 15, 2012: Ethne’s new portrait for the editor’s page:

This was my first assignment, just a few days after I started here.

Photographer Thomas MacDonald photographs Ethne in front of a really cool garage door.

Ethne's portrait first appeared in the June/July 2012 issue.

April 11, 2012: Although I’ve been working for Rodale since January, I wasn’t officially put on the masthead until the June/July issue:

•Before I came to OG, I was working as a photo editor at a NY tabloid for almost 7 years. Newspapers don’t normally add the production teams onto their mastheads. Having my name attached to the magazine is a source of pride for me.

This is the first time my name has ever appeared on a masthead.

April 12, 2012: You might see some of my photography for a tulip story in one of next year’s issues:

Tulips at the Rodale Institute

From Left to right: Princess Irene, Grand Perfection, and Ile de France.

May 4, 2012: Here’s a sneak peak on what you might be seeing in our next issue:

Stay tuned for more updates and behind-the-scenes shots from our photo shoots.

Cheers!