Jason Ingram shoots some of the world’s most beautiful gardens, including those belonging to King Charles III at his private residence, Highgrove near Tetbury in the Cotswolds. He works for garden magazines, designers, and private clients all around the world, and now he is divulging his secrets in his new book, How to Photograph Gardens, letting us all in on the process behind capturing transportive garden images.
As an obsessive photographer of my own garden, I was intrigued to delve in and glean some useful tips to up my game. I’m not ever likely to invest in macro lenses, tripods, diffusers and other techy gadgets that Ingram outlines in his opening chapter, “What’s in my bag?” For those who are more technically inclined, Ingram shares lots of his personal preferences for equipment, apps, editing processes, and software. For the rest of us, his advice on when, how, and why to take images is easy to apply—even with a smart phone.
Photography by Jason Ingram, from How to Photograph Gardens.
Get up at dawn.
Above: Sunrise at RHS Wisley in Surrey.
The best light is in the golden hour of sunrise, and in the British summer, when most gardens are peaking in June, this can mean around 4:30 am. If you’re traveling to a site, this can sound quite unappealing, but you’ll be rewarded with the best possible light that is “golden, soft and full of detail,” says Ingram. At this time of day, the light and views will change minute by minute so you need to know, ideally in advance, what you want to photograph. The long shadows and a golden glow enhance colors and textures and add depth. Ingram also suggests shooting directly into light for dramatic and dreamy images, using trees, branches, or foliage to gently diffuse the light and control the amount of flare.
Maximize your phone’s potential.
Above: Jimi Blake’s garden, Huntingbrook, in Ireland.
“The best camera is the one you have with you” is a truism beloved by photographers and for so many, that camera is your smart phone. Ingram has tips to maximize its potential as a camera. Always capture in the highest resolution possible and in RAW format, and keep the lenses clean; cell phones that tend to spend their lives in pockets and bags are likely to have dirty lenses smeared with finger prints, too. Use a soft cloth to carefully clean lenses before taking photos. The beauty of mobile phone images is that they are quick and easy to edit either in Instagram or other apps; a couple of Ingram’s favorites are Snapseed and Hipstamatic.
Learn to really look.
Above: View from the lake with Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Worplesdon’ at RHS Rosemoor.
The temptation when taking garden photographs, especially when the light is amazing, is to just start shooting. Ingram suggests taking time to really observe the garden and its plants first. When he leads workshops he gets his students to walk through the garden without a camera so that they really observe details and how light affects plants. As a result they tend to take more considered, and better composed, images.’
Use clouds to your advantage.
Above: Cool light and reflections at Yelford Manor, Oxfordshire. The “blue hour” just before sunrise or just as the sun disappears on the horizon “often delivers a palette of cooler colors that shouldn’t be overlooked. At this time the sky takes on a deep blue tone, producing a tranquil ethereal setting.”
Overcast days can provide just as many great images. The interplay of light and shadow through mist, fog, and cloud can add layers to a scene, creating moody, evocative images. Not to mention, soft light is often desirable for garden photography, says Ingram, as it creates gentle shadows and controlled highlights. This allows the textures and shapes of your subjects to stand out beautifully, which is perfect for revealing the intricate details of borders and for plant portraits as well. While light and rain are often the main elements to consider when planning a garden shoot, Ingram advises accounting for wind speed, too—anything above 10 mph can significantly affect the quality of the images.
Master the art of composition.
Above: Dark maroon tulips at Malverley’s garden in Hampshire. Here the strong architecture of the house is blurred out in the background allowing the tulips to be the focus of the image.
Finding a strong composition can make all the difference in creating impactful images, and it’s often as much about what you leave out as what you include, suggests Ingram. In reality it can take years to hone your sense of composition, but he suggests starting with leading lines (a path for example that leads the viewer’s eye into the picture), strong structural elements, foreground interest, or symmetry which often provides the easiest way to frame a shot.
Above: How to Photograph Gardens by Jason Ingram is published by Ilex Press and hits US bookstores on April 29.
