Seasons of the Arboretum

Eastwoodhill seasons.

The four seasons wheel through this montage of pictures taken at the Eastwoodhill Arboretum by landscape photographer Ebony Whitaker. Bottom left is an image of Swan Lake, at the bottom of the arboretum’s Orchard Hill.

“It was the coldest morning that I had experienced at EWH and there was a hard frost clinging to the ground,” says Whitaker in a note accompanying the picture that is part of an exhibition at Eastwoodhill.

“The mist and reflection coming from Swan Lake caught my eye and I managed to capture a photograph that represents exactly how I remember the scene.”

The photograph of tui feeding in a Taiwanese cherry tree was shot in summer.

“‘There’s a tui party in the cherry tree’ Eastwoodhill manager Maz shrieked excitedly”, writes Whitaker.

“There were too many tuis to count and I lost track of time as I fired away frantically hoping to get a great photo of them.”

Based in Gisborne and Ohope Whitaker shot the pictures for his exhibition, Seasons of the Arboretum, over the course of a year.

“For the most part I shoot in the morning,” he says.

“The best light for landscapes is about half-an-hour before and half-an-hour after sunrise. I usually choose sunrise because I’m energised.”

Photography req uires a lot of mental focus and is technically complex, he says.

“When you’re shooting you’re focused on that specific task. It consumes your entire focus. It’s quite meditative.”

He cites French Impressionist Claude Monet as an influence, along with photographs in the global International Garden Photographer of the Year exhibition.

“That’s something I aim to do.”

Seasons of the Arboretum Eastwoodhill Arboretum, a collection of pictures by landscape photographer Ebony Whitaker, is on now at Eastwoodhill’s Homestead Tea House until April 28. Open Wednesday-Sunday, 10am – 3pm.