T H E G A R D E N P H O T O G R A P H Y W O R K S H O P T H E G A R D E N P H O T O G R A P H Y W O R K S H O P Tips and Techniques for Capturing Your Garden ANDREA JONES Timber Press Portland, Oregon Mention of trademark, proprietary product, or vendor does not constitute a guarantee or warranty of the product by the publisher or author and does not imply its approval to the exclusion of other products or vendors. Copyright © 2017 by Andrea Jones. All rights reserved. Photographs © Andrea Jones / Garden Exposures Photo Library unless otherwise indicated in photography credits on page 213. Published in 2017 by Timber Press, Inc. The Haseltine Building 133 S.W. Second Avenue, Suite 450 Portland, Oregon 97204-3527 timberpress.com Printed in China Cover and text design by Kristi Pfeffer Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Jones, Andrea, 1960- author. Title: The garden photography workshop : tips and techniques for capturing your garden / Andrea Jones. Description: Portland, Oregon : Timber Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016027281 (print) | LCCN 2016032692 (ebook) | ISBN 9781604696691 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781604697865 (e-book) Subjects: LCSH: Photography of gardens. | Photography of plants. | Gardens— Pictorial works. Classification: LCC TR662 .J66 2017 (print) | LCC TR662 (ebook) | DDC 778.9/34—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016027281 A catalogue record for this book is also available from the British Library. With special thanks to my husband, Alasdair Currie, for his help and support during the making of this book, enduring with me late nights and early mornings writing and rewriting, photo editing, processing, scanning, and retouching, not to mention walking the dogs and caring for our wild garden while my mind was on this exciting project. CONTENTS WHY PHOTOGRAPH YOUR GARDEN? ................. 8 GETTING STARTED ...................................... 16 HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH A GARDEN .......................18 Knowing your garden Decision making and planning THE EVER-CHANGING WORLD OF CAMERAS AND DIGITAL DEVICES ....................................39 dslrs and lenses Compact cameras and point-and-shoots Smart phones and tablets Camera basics THE GARDEN PORTRAITS 56 70 FINCA VIDA NARA Creative Composition in Southern Spain Up Close in a Japanese Courtyard in Dublin, Ireland Crafting a garden photo story Photographing in close-up Composing your photograph Getting perspective correct 88 104 LYNN AND RALPH’S GARDEN PARKHEAD A Mosaic of Moments in Washington State, USA Working with the Elements on the West Coast of Scotland Making a photographic patchwork quilt Capturing winter weather Editing, archiving, and organizing your photos Creating slide presentations and photo books 120 130 MILL OF FYALL FARRS Social Media from the Vale of John and Jennie Makepeace’s Crafted Strathmore, Scotland and Colourful English Garden Creating a visual diary for social media Using colour and light to reveal a garden’s character Understanding histograms, contrast, and clarity Getting detail in shadows 146 160 NANCYLAND ARD DARAICH Curating Creativity in Oregon, USA Sketching in the Scottish Highlands Capturing the style of a garden Telling the story of a garden and its gardeners Playing with depth of field Using the garden as inspiration for art 174 190 ANN STAFFORD COYOTE HOUSE Compiling Botanical Records on Grand Cayman Professionally Promoting Sustainability in California, USA Striving for detail and accuracy Mixing natural and artificial light Showing a sense of place Documenting design: before and after Resources ....................................................... 210 Further Reading ...................................................211 Acknowledgements................................................212 Photography Credits ...............................................213 Index.............................................................214 WHY PHOTOGRAPH YOUR GARDEN? Gardens are ephemeral. Yet they linger long in our imaginations and they bind us with invisible tendrils, occupying our thoughts and developing ideas in our heads when we are elsewhere or engaged in other pursuits. I have spent at least a couple of decades attempting to capture the essence of gardens, to “fix” their magical moments and uncover their secrets. I have discovered that it is through the lens that a garden truly reveals itself to me, and through my images I can often surprise the gardener who has designed, created, and tended it. Every garden has a unique beauty. In the course of my work I have photographed a huge range, from magnificent royal palaces to small domestic yards, finding some thing original in all of them. No matter how grand or modest, each of these gardens is the endeavour of someone with a unique vision who has been willing to expend energy and passion in order to see that vision flourish. For those of us who love to plan and plant, coax the wayward growth of climbers, and clear the weeds that would smother small treasures, capturing in pictures the unfolding seasons or the tiny details of buds and bark is almost irresistible. Now that digital cameras are so inexpensive, smart phones always at hand, and tablets so user-friendly, it has never been easier to catch that instant when the first snowdrop emerges or when you draw back the curtains on an autumn morning to discover that, overnight, the leaves of your maple tree have fallen in a perfect, scarlet circle. Beyond these simple pleasures, the reasons that gardeners choose to photograph their gardens are myriad. Printed garden photographs transform beautifully into cards, calendars, or photo books—the perfect gift or keepsake for reflection and observation— and it’s now easier than ever to create a visual diary on social media with one tap of a smart phone button. More practically, photographing your garden can help you remem- ber which planting combinations worked and which ones didn’t, when you planted or harvested from one year to the next, or how a garden construction project progressed. Early morning autumn light at our home and B&B, Alton Albany Farm. 9