Vergelegen wine estate

**Neilmac50** · 12th January 2015, 06:04 AM

On Sunday we went for a walk around the stunning historical gardens of the Vergelegen wine estate, there are Camphor trees planted over three hundred years ago and an Oak tree planted between 1700 and 1706.

**pnodrog** · 12th January 2015, 07:50 AM

A lovely setting - I had expected to see grapevines, vats and a cellar but you have captured the gardens well as the bright lighting was not much of a help.

**ashcroft** · 12th January 2015, 09:18 AM

#1 is very good. I counted seven different layers going towards the rear, which creates a good sense of depth. Pretty scene too. Your shutter speed was 1/320 on f/11. A smaller aperture would have got those front white flowers in focus as well - or did you want them OOF?

**IzzieK** · 12th January 2015, 09:24 AM

Neil nice shots of the garden...aahhh inside the winery would have added to the interest, but you did very well in what you have captured here as far as I am concerned. I particularly like #3 photo -- the second trunk looks like a foot of an animal, a huge animal...come to think of it, I stared at this shot more than I did the others...because of that foot....

**Shadowman** · 12th January 2015, 09:51 AM

Nice series.

**Mike Buckley** · 12th January 2015, 12:27 PM

A nice series in tough lighting conditions. I'd like to see the first one with the foreground flowers in focus.

**NorthernFocus** · 12th January 2015, 02:59 PM

Looks like a lovely garden. From a photography perspective a visit at a time of day with the sun lower in the sky would be beneficial. As it was, use of a polarizer may have been useful, particularly on the leaves in the first shot and the last two. Compositionally IMO the first shot and the tree trunks are strongest. From a technical perspective, others have already pointed out the OOF foreground in the first shot.

**Nicks Pics** · 12th January 2015, 03:17 PM

The mountains and vegetation are very beautiful. I rather like the bright sunshine, and cheerful colors.

**Neilmac50** · 12th January 2015, 03:39 PM

Thank you for your comments and thoughts, being a private estate where you pay an admission I was off course limited by opening hours and to take photos with a rather more flattering light was not possible though I do think I need to invest in a polarising filter.