To accompany a "Here comes Spring" story, we needed a picture showing people working outdoors, preparing for the annual explosion of green leaves and lawns.
Generally, most folks are still huddled indoors, nervously expecting a late-season snow storm any day, squashing hopes of wildflowers and warm temperatures. But professional landscapers get a jump on things, cleaning up winter's mess (downed tree limbs, dead plant material, and other assorted cold weather yard maladies).
So, Dick Rishel and his crew are already hard at work, making their client's yards look like they came right out of HGTV's Gardening By The Yard. My yard, on the other hand, is a prime example of a 'before' picture on Desperate Landscapes, also on HGTV.
So, how do we make men spreading mulch look interesting to our readers?
All you've got is a wheelbarrow, a pitchfork, and the gentleman controlling both. Not exciting or interesting. Mulch is black, the landscape is bleak. It's tough to make this picture 'shine', so we incorporate naked walnut trees, a gray sky and minimal color to illustrate that winter isn't leaving without a fight.
We can't place people in the picture to make it interesting. We have to wait for it to happen. Then, bingo! He climbs to the top of the bank, and double bingo (!), the family dog joins him.
Or, to show what's happening in the forests-- with no landscape help-- photograph a snowdrop, complete with raindrop.
So, here's a problem. Illustrate spring's first day with people working outside (it's raining). What are your ideas?
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