Getting it all In

Often there is so much going on in a garden a photographer will rush about trying to squeeze everything in. This is especially true on summer when the borders are bursting with colour and texture - it can make your head spin!

You want to capture the detail of the shapes and colours but you also want to give an impression of the whole sweep and drama of the herbaceous border in full pomp.

Many photographers will use a panoramic format to help with this job. But even then, the composition has to be spot-on to balance the various elements and to give that sense of intimacy and 'broad sweep' at the same time.

Here, Rob Whitworth has focussed on one element of the summer border - the tall spiky echiums, as the 'keynote'  of his composition, balanced by the passive façade of the country cottage. This provides the drama.

A summer garden
Rob Whitworth
Commended: International Garden Photographer of the Year 2009

At the same time, he has balanced the composition with the two dense shrubs at either end of the panorama. In between these elements, the colours and shapes of the other flowers and shrubs flow, giving that sense of fullness and bounty.

By building the composition around a 'theme' - the creamy spikes - Rob has given us a real sense of what the garden is like.  He has not attempted to include everything.

Getting into Gardens

Rob Whitworth is a professional photographer and his clients - publishers and editors - will get him access into all kinds of lovely private gardens.

Where will you find your inspirational subjects? If you have a garden yourself, perhaps you think it is not up to the standard required. Well, that goes for most of us but you can use your own garden as your own private studio - to try out techniques, the use of different lenses and what kinds of effects are created in different seasons and times of day.

Many of us have neighbours or friends whose gardens put ours into the shade! Will they let you come into their gardens at odd times of the day? Most people are very helpful especially if you can provide them with a print of their garden.

At International Garden Photographer of the Year we have a special arrangement with the National Trust to allow photographers to enter pictures taken in National Trust gardens to be entered into the competition. You have to follow special rules but this does give you access to some of the finest gardens in England and Wales. For more details of this scheme go to

http://www.igpoty.com/Rules.asp?parent=competition

In the UK many gardens now open for to raise funds for charity. This can be a good source of inspiration. Make friends with the owner and be open about what you are doing - this can pay dividends. Always respect people's right to privacy. Make sure you give something back - either a big donation to the charity of the owner's choice or a set of prints - or both!

Enjoy

Wandering around a garden, absorbing and admiring the skill of the gardener is one of the most pleasant human activities - so don't forget to enjoy your garden photography!

Biography

Philip Smith is managing director and co-founder of the International Garden Photographer of the Year (http://www.igpoty.com) competition and exhibition. Philip trained as a photographer in Nottingham and Bournemouth but went directly from college into the fast-developing computer software market of the 1980s. He worked as Creative Director in a pioneering new media company before co-founding his own company to produce CD ROM educational products for clients such as Dorling Kindersley and Ordnance Survey. In recent years Philip has returned to his photography roots and created a new career as a professional photographer specialising in plants and gardens. He is passionate about the part that gardens play in the lives of people and wildlife. Gardens need to be celebrated and establishing International Garden Photographer of the Year as the world’s leading showcase for garden photography has played a leading part in that celebration.

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