In search of the perfect picnic
For the homes opener picnic in this month's August issue I went
in search of the picture perfect meadow to shoot in but it was far
from plain sailing!
All initial ambitions of shooting in a leafy London park were
foiled by the amount of red tape involved so we headed out of town
to my parents farmhouse that sits in a sleepy village near Marlow,
Berkshire.
Surrounded by acres of farmland I thought finding a suitable
location would be a breeze so armed with one of the red chairs and
a picnic rug I went to seek out the spot. After about an hour's
rambling I realised the typically British weather we had been
enjoying meant that all traces of green had been carved up
by our over enthusiastic cows and my 'meadow' now resembled a
rather unphotogenic alternative!
Now feeling rather disenchanted with the whole 'meadow' idea I
turned to the garden. I had been avoiding this obvious spot because
it meant I had to start up 'the beast' (the sit-on lawnmower) -
time to delegate! To my relief my chosen volunteer was well versed
in lawnmower management and by the time I reappeared with the props
the lawn was looking the part… the final challenge was to satisfy
Olli's (the dog) urge to model!
Photography David Cleveland