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To understand why I suggest that every photographer try garden and flower photography, let me start with a story.
Eighteen months ago I visited the gardens at Knightshayes Court, a historic property close to my home, to make some close-up photos of flowers. Little did I know it would be the start of what has been a profound creative and personal journey.
A month later I visited another of my favorite gardens, Forde Abbey Gardens, for the first time. I walked into a garden bursting with colorful flowers of every description. I set to work with my camera, but soon realized that most of the flowers were past their best. But it didn’t bother me. The bedraggled flowers, with drooping petals, were a fascinating subject. They were imperfect, but beautiful. I spent several hours in the garden and made over 1700 photos. A new project, The End of Summer, was born. More importantly, it was the start of a personal transformation that has seen me become a garden photographer.
Above: Photos from my The End of Summer Project.
I’d taken the first steps on a journey of exploration and self-discovery that’s continuing today. For the last 18 months I kept visiting gardens and making thousands of photos. I photographed the gardens themselves as well as plants and flowers. I began looking at the work of well known garden photographers like Jason Ingram, Clive Nicholls and Éva Németh. I visited new gardens. And at some point I realized that I had become a garden photographer.
When I took up flower photography again I had no idea where it would lead, or that I would enjoy photographing flowers and gardens so much. Let’s start off by exploring what it’s done for me, what it can do for you, and why I recommend that you try it.
Garden photography takes place in a rich environment
I’ve written about working in rich environments before in relation to travel photography. The idea is to find a place where there are so many visually interesting things going on that you can’t help but make great photos.
The same idea applies to garden photography. A good garden gives you a rich environment to work in, with plenty of interesting flowers and scenes to photograph. The way gardens change with the seasons means you can visit the same one over and over and find something new and interesting to photograph each time.
Above: The gardens at Knightshayes Court.
You can photograph gardens in just about any weather. The only thing that makes life difficult is wind. Compare this to landscape photography, where not only do you need a spectacular landscape, but the weather and light have to come together to get the best result. Even so, you often end up with just a handful of photos. In a garden, you can easily make hundreds of photos in a day. It’s easier and quicker to build up a good collection of photos. That in turn makes it easier to turn them into online photo galleries, monographs, prints, zines and photo books.
Above: Some pages from a PDF monograph I made using photos from Burrow Farm Gardens.
With garden photography, there’s no excuse (apart from wind) for not getting good photos. It’s up to you to work with the conditions and the light to create stunning photos. That’s greatly empowering. For example, you can visit a garden during the middle of a sunny summer’s day, in hard light that’s unsuitable for most types of photography (especially landscapes). But gardens have plenty of shade, and you can focus on photographing flowers in its beautiful soft light. You’ll get great results in lighting conditions that you wouldn’t dream of using for landscape photography.
Above: The sort of photos you can make of flowers by using the shade on a hot summer’s day.
Garden photography gets you out in nature
Walking around and making photos in a beautiful garden has benefits beyond photography. Spending time in nature is good for your mental and physical health.
This is backed up by the science. Spending time in nature calms you down and boosts your immune system. Trees give off essential oils called phytoncides, organic chemicals created by the trees to protect them against microbes and insects. When you breathe them in, they strengthen your immune system by increasing your body’s count of natural killer cells that fight viruses. They also boost immunity by reducing the amount of inflammatory cytokines (substances secreted by the immune system).
To get maximum benefit from being in nature you need to engage with it using all your senses. Photography does this naturally by encouraging you to look deeply for interesting flowers and scenes to photograph. It also helps if you put your phone away and turn off notifications.
Above: The Garden House is one of my favorite gardens. Walking around, looking at the flowers, breathing in the scents is a complete sensory experience that goes beyond photography.
When I visit a garden I’m not there just for photography. I’m there for the experience. Most public gardens have cafes. I like sitting outdoors in the sun, drinking a coffee and reading a book. I like people watching, and seeing how other people enjoy the gardens. Sometimes I have interesting conversations with strangers. I look forward to having a nice lunch, again sitting in the sun, enjoying the view and the smell of the flowers. And of course I greatly enjoy walking around, making photos, breathing in the smells, looking at flowers and listening to bees humming and birds singing. These are all benefits you can enjoy too.
Gardens are great for flower and insect photography
Most photographers love to photograph flowers, and there’s no better place to find lots of flowers, bees and butterflies than a large public garden. Visit on a still, cloudy day and you can easily make hundreds of beautiful photos in a few hours. The flowers change through the year, so there’s always something new to photograph.
Above: I made all of these flower photos in Burrow Farm Gardens, a public garden less than an hour’s drive from my home.
Garden photography encourages you to explore your local area
Garden photography began to take off for me as I visited new gardens. It’s become a way of traveling in my own area. We’re lucky to have a lot of beautiful gardens in south-west England, and I’ve enjoyed the process of discovery as I’ve found new ones to visit. I’ve become an explorer and traveler in my own area, with all the rewards that travel and new experiences bring. It’s something I intend to continue, by going to gardens in other parts of the country and overseas. I’m looking forward to planning future trips around garden photography. This is something you can also enjoy as garden photography encourages you to explore your own neighborhood and beyond.
Above: The gardens at RHS Rosemoor, one of many places I would never have visited if I hadn’t become interested in flower and garden photography.
Garden photography has given me lots of creative energy
The most unexpected thing that garden photography has done for me is to give me creative energy. It’s inspired my photography and my writing. I’m making all sorts of business plans, including setting up a garden photography website selling cards and prints, writing a traditionally published book and running garden photography workshops.
Photographing flowers and gardens could well have the same creative benefits for you, so why don’t you try it? Summer’s approaching if you live in the northern hemisphere, and some of the world’s most beautiful gardens are starting to look their best, full of flowers waiting for you to photograph them.
Above: Spring flowers blooming at Coleton Fishacre.
If you need more inspiration, here are a few photos from the gardens at East Lambrook Manor in Somerset. I was there last week and had a great day.
The Garden Photography Workshop
You can learn more about these ideas in my brand new ebook The Garden Photography Workshop.
Illustrated with over 150 inspiring photos, it shows you how to make beautiful photos of flowers and gardens like the ones in this article.
