Hello,friends: SOUTH COAST BOTANIC GARDEN (S.C.B.G.)is a vast, lovely and scenic garden nestled in the coastal township of Ranch Palos Verdes, in the greater Los Angeles area of California, U.S.A. I have frequented it before and on one recent morning as I woke up to see the overcast skies, I lost no time to reach such a location.

For nature photography, the ideal lighting is an overcast or cloud-covered sky. Thus, the direct, harsh and contrasty lighting of the sun is avoided. There are fewer shadows and it is much easier to fit in the exposure within a narrow range. Had there been direct sun, your camera sensor would not have been able to give full justice to put very bright areas of the image together with very dark-those shadowed areas within the limited range permissible.

There are a few problems with it too. As the lighting can be relatively dim, you need to use a tripod, because for landscape, you want a narrow aperture for good D.O.F.(Depth of field). I usually reach up to f/13 and not narrower because with f/16 and f/22, in digital, there is risk of a blurred image from diffraction. Now, when you use a narrower f-stop or aperture, you need more light to reach inside the camera, and so, the shutter speed has to slow down. If it is too slow, you cannot handhold the camera without shaking. And a shaken blurred image is destined for the drain.

The other problem is the white balance. On a cloudy or overcast day, the blue light from the sun filters through the cloud cover and makes the image too blue which you won't like. So, you may have to shift from Auto white balance to "Cloudy" or to some sort of a combination.

I intend to put all selected recent open Landscape and closeup images first. After that, I would introduce to you some "BONSAI" images. After those are finished, I will put from time to time some older and selected S.C.B.G.images.

A few words about "BONSAI PLANTS." The word "BONSAI" means "A tree or shrub that has been DWARFED as by pruning the roots and pinching the shoots and branches." It originated in China over 2,000 years ago, but was adapted and perfected in Japan somewhere between 1945-50. Pronounced as "Bone-sigh," In Japanese, it means tray planting or pot culture. It is the art of creating the illusion of great natural landscape beauty and age in a miniature tabletop setting. Enjoy, and with best wishes. JARIS

More Photographs from several earlier visits to this garden will now be added from time to time.