My Services
Who do you work for then Dave and what do you do for them?
Well let me lay out a range of services I provide by writing about who I currently and would like to work with in respect to my Garden Photography business.
My goal is to be photographing gardens, plants and flowers full time in order to show off their beauty and form. The primary objective is to be published in major UK and international garden magazines. I love to provide an artistic representation of place and time using natural light to bring out design elements, highlight the form and texture of planting and evoke the emotion of what it feels like to be in the garden. I can also accurately document seasonal occurrences or organised events. Such as the first flush of snowdrops in winter; the proliferation of spring bulbs through, the explosion of colour in summer, or the turning of leaves to red and golden hues in Autumn. Capturing the ever changing nature of your garden. I’m accustomed to working at events as well, capturing candid shots of participants enjoying your garden or workshop. As well as bringing my own unique editorial style, I have the necessary tools and techniques to accurately reproduce colours for print and publication if the need arises for your brand.
The services I carry out can meet the diverse needs of a range of individuals and organisations. Let’s dive a little deeper into that.
Garden Designers may need professional garden photography for a plethora of purposes. It may be to update their website or printed portfolio to demonstrate to their prospective clients their artistic vision and completed projects. They may be creating a show garden and wish to document the entire journey from inception through to final completion of the project. Or they may be entering a prestigious industry accreditation or awards which have very specific image submission guidelines, and obviously you want to show off your work at it’s best within the confines of these restrictions.
Before and After images are also a valuable addition to a designer’s website, showing the transformation and value you add through your own artistic vision.
Working with designers and cultivating that relationship over a period of time is important to me, in order to achieve the best possible photographic outcomes, understanding their intention for the photoshoot is key. Is it intended to convey a feeling from the garden as a whole?; capture the attention of prospective clients?; or is it to demonstrate the designers technical and artistic skills in implementing a certain design aesthetic or create a harmonious planting scheme? I pride myself on being able to capture a mood and tell a visual story about the garden, taking viewers on a virtual journey through the space. But also having an eye for the detail and capturing the designers attention to the finer aspects of the brief and actualisation of their vision.
I’d love to talk to any garden designers about collaborating on a project, no matter how big or small and tell their story of how they create wonderful garden designs for their clients.
The range of services I provide can also be of use to Garden Owners (both private and public). They may wish to have some images for use on their website or social media in order to attract visitors. They may also need high quality imagery for use in printed collateral such as posters or brochures. It could be that they are hosting specific events like open days, or craft workshops and would like to visually document the event for posterity or future advertising. I really enjoy working with garden owners and event organisers to capture the energy of their garden.
Writers and journalists are another potential group of clients who may need quality images of a specific garden for a book or magazine article they may be working on. If this is you, I would love to discuss your needs and see how we can work together to add stunning visuals to your writing.
Product and archival imagery may be required by Growers, nursery peopled and national collection holders. This could be for their advertising and marketing, or simply for cataloguing or archival purposes. You may also wish to feature in magazines or periodicals. I can meet your needs with clear, well composed imagery using neutral or artistic backdrops.
Why would you pick me then?
Well I am excited to work with a range of people in the gardening world and spread that excitement through the quality of my work. It’s my pleasure to capture the essence of a garden and create visual stories to take people on a journey. I enjoy working collaboratively with my clients and am flexible and professional in my approach.
If you’d like to work together on a project then don’t hesitate to get in touch, we can book an initial consultation to discuss your needs and I can tailer a package to meet your needs.
How I have transformed into a garden photographer
Today I am going to reflect upon my journey so far towards becoming a garden photographer. I’ve touched previously upon how I stumbled upon this potential caster move but what did I do next?
Well, whilst I knew I enjoyed gardening and photography I was under no illusions of being a ground breaking, or event competent, photographer. I was aware I needed to up my skill level behind the lens. So I began researching what training or courses were available.
I started with some industry research - basically binging some gardening magazines - and it became apparent that a handful of artists featured frequently. So I started stalking them online via their instagrams and websites. This is how I stumbled across Jason Ingram whose Create Academy course he had not long before published. I instantly signed up to this and was greeted with an excellent virtual course covering all manner of topics from lighting and composition, gear tips, how to take garden landscapes and plant portraits in the garden as well as setting up still life subjects indoors, right through to some post production and photo editing tips. The production quality of the videos is excellent as are the locations where they are shot. Jason explains things in a very calm, clear and engaging manner, so I’d say the course is accessible for the enthusiast photographer through to someone with a lot of experience. He’s very open and forthcoming with how he plans and achieves the incredible images he makes, it is no surprise he is well known and respected in the industry, to the extent he has shot Highgrove Castle for HRH King Charles.
I’ve used a lot of Jason’s tips in my subsequent photographic practice, most notably, using graduated ND filters to balance wide dynamic range in exposure which, is often experienced during sunrise and sunset. I find the effect it creates more pleasing (and less time-consuming in post) than bracketing exposures or using HDR effects in Lightroom. My other key take away has been searching for the best light and shooting at the extreme ends of the day, as well as shooting contra-jour, or into the sun. This was something I was discouraged from doing in my youth, granted that was back when I was taking holiday snaps on a 35mm point and shoot camera. Modern digital cameras and lens coatings have less tendency to flare or lose contrast.
To put into practice what I had learned I needed some willing subject matter. So I took myself off to some local public gardens such as Winterbourne and Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens. I whilst I couldn’t yet access these during sunrise or sunset, I was more intentional with my compositions and it gave me experience practicing Lightroom editing. I learned about the various contrast tools, sharpening, selective colour editing as well as how to use the various masking tools. Below are some of my 2024 practice shots.
I don’t have a background in film development and darkroom printing, historically I had relied upon the JPEG colour profiles and ‘film simulations’ baked into digital cameras, or heaven forbid, ‘Filters’ available in smartphone and social media apps. I therefore had little experience of making a photo in a digital post production environment. That said, ever since acquiring my first “proper camera”, a Nikon D40 DSLR in 2009, I knew shooting in RAW as well as JPEG would offer most editing latitude, when I eventually got around to learning how. I am grateful I made this choice as it has given me the opportunity to revisit some old photos and better edit them to my current tastes. Let me know if you’d like to see some of these old shots in future blog.
Around the same time in 2024 when I was viewing Jason’s online course, I also attended a series of Camversation talks by Molly Hollman, the award winning flower photographer. The top 3 things I learned from her sessions were
Shoot regularly to get lots of practice - she shoots at least 1 day a week, if not more, even if it is just subjects in or from her own garden.
Explore creative possibilities e.g. use of backdrops, a Lightbox, macro photography etc.
Improve your post production skills, including using layers, object selection, blending etc. in Photoshop
As my knowledge improved I needed ever more practice, so I made contact with some local National Garden Scheme (NGS) gardens and arranged some visits to practice shooting and delivering a range of images from wide shots, to midrange detail and plant portraits. Some of this work is now viewable in my portfolio.
An important part of my practice has been to review and reflect upon my work. I intermittently revisit images from the last 2 years to see how I have progressed. As I learn new skills and techniques I find new ays of approaching old images I previously didn’t rate that highly. I may also find an image I previously liked not longer is to my taste or is not consistent with how my style has developed.
In late 2024 a locally run course caught my eye. It was a documentary photography course run by PRISM CIC, a Birmingham based network for photographers. The course covered some technical aspects of photography but what drew me in was that it was a project based course, centred in the up and coming residential suburb of Stirchley. It offered some structure and built towards an exhibition or participants work and throughout the course, we’d receive critique from professional photographer and visual anthropologist Oxana Bischin. I really valued Oxana’s comments and critique throughout the course, I admire her graphic and bold aesthetic combined with the social anthropological approach she has to her practice. As a group we were very proud of the exhibition we put on at The Old Paintworks in Balsall Heath during April 2025, my images are below
As I amassed a portfolio of images I was proud of I knew I needed a means to present this to the world. So in 2025 I acquired the domain www.davefennellwells.com and created my first website using Adobe Portfolio. This was a relatively easy way to set up a photography website because it came bundled with my Adobe Lightroom subscription and included various templates that were easy to edit. As my career aspirations have developed I have decided I needed additional website functionality that the basic Adobe package didn’t offer, so I’ve chosen Squarespace because it includes a number of business oriented features which will by useful as my business grows.
After leaving my previous job in April 2025, I knew I would need further support in my new venture and a means of learning about the garden media world. I was essentially taking a massive step in to the unknown career wise which was daunting and exciting at the same time. Luckily my wife (who has previously worked in horticulture and is now an environmental consultant) mentioned she was aware of an organisation called the Garden Media Guild (GMG). My research led me to discover they have a sub-group called the Professional Garden Photographers Association (PGPA). I decided to work towards obtaining membership, luckily they accept new ‘probationary’ members, people like me who are starting out in their career. They offer regular webinars about various topics aimed at writers, photographers, presenters, content creators and influencers. They also run an annual awards ceremony recognising the talents and contributions of people from across the industry. It’s been a fascinating way to learn about the garden media from professionals with years of experience. I was very proud to be accepted not only as a probationary member of the GMG but my photographic portfolio was judged worthy of probationary member of the PGPA. You can find my page on the PGPA website here.
More recently, my professional development has been to work on Clive Nichols Learn with the Experts course. What I value most about this course is the opportunity to submit assignments to Clive for his professional critique. I was delighted to receive the below comments for the images below.
Love-in-a-mist
“wow- this is incredible.
Focus, depth of field and colour rendition are all spot on - your eye is drawn into the flowers incredible petals and you can really feel the texture of them - a great shot”,
Clive Nichols
Clive is one of the most well known and revered garden photographers, shooting for a range of magazines and prestigious gardens and estates. I’d say Clive’s course is aimed at the photographer who already has a strong grasp of the basics of exposure and is confidence controlling their camera in fully manual or aperture priority mode. The content will expand your creative horizons and enable you to get the best results no matter what quality of lighting conditions you’re faced with. I often cite the Norwegian phrase “there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing”, well the equivalent for Clive’s course would be “there’s no such thing as bad light, just an inexperienced photographer”.
So where have I arrived at today? Well I have spent a considerable time building my technical photography skills and now feel in a position to begin offering my professional services to the industry and seek my fortune, or should that be, seek a living from a more intentional career?
My next steps will be reaching out to more garden designers and owners to shoot their gardens, together with honing my ability to capture a range of shots for editorial features or commercial use.
I’ll lay out my professional services in an upcoming blog.
Why Garden Photography?
Winterbourne House & Garden at UoB
It’s the start of 2026 (can we till stay that in late January?) and I want to reflect on why I wanted to be a garden photographer.
As I mentioned in my introductory blog, I decided to pursue garden photography as a career move because it combines my enjoyment of photography with my love of being outdoors.
As part of the process of curating a new, more meaningful life for myself, the book Designing Your Life (Burnett & Evans) prompted me to complete a career oriented word cloud that culminated in me mashing together the words ‘gardening’ and ‘photography’. At first I didn’t think there would be such a job as a ‘garden photographer’, but some quick research led me to realise there is a dedicated group of professionals working in this sector who produce some incredible art showing off the creative and horticultural skills of an entire industry sector. From designers and landscapers, through to plants people, nursery and garden centre owners, horticulturists and growers, down to enthusiasts who throw open their homes and gardens as part of the National Garden Scheme. Economically, the Garden Industry contributes £38bn a year to UK GDP (according to the RHS State of Gardening Report). Not to mention the array of nature based services that gardens and gardening provide to society such as flood mitigation, climatic cooling in urban areas and positive impacts upon mental and physical health.
During my recovery from work related burnout, I found being in our garden and tending to our plants helped me reconnect with who I am. It would calm my racing mind and force me to slow down and be present in the moment. You can’t be checking emails or doomscrolling news or social media whilst your hands are covered in compost or you are trying to sow minuscule seeds.
The following four images are from a recent venture out into our garden to see what’s occuring.
During the period of my burnout recovery, I took my camera on a few outings to some local gardens. I discovered the hidden gem of Winterbourne House & Gardens at the University of Birmingham. This Arts and Crafts marvel, nestled right next to the campus I studied at 25 odd years ago, features some of my favourite spaces to sit and chill in the heaving metropolis of Birmingham. I’ve also found myself volunteering there, learning about the fascinating history and craft of letterpress printing, but more on that in another blog post. The house gardens weren’t open to the public when I was a student and I’m immensely jealous that current students have this wonderful venue available to them. Here are some photos from my 2024 visit:
Part of what inspires me as a garden photographer is that gardens are, by their very nature, constantly changing and evolving. Plants grow (we gardeners hope) and change throughout the seasons; flowers blossom; fruits set, ripen and are harvested; leaves change colour and drop; new shoots burst forth from the soil. And we humans can’t help ourselves from interfering by moving things around, pruning errant branches, sowing new varieties, such that from week to week, month to month, year to year, no one garden is ever the same from one day to the next. This infinite variety keeps me coming back time and again.
One of the other things I enjoy about being a garden photographer is the quality of the light we strive for. Us photographers, or ‘light writers’, love shooting during what is often known as “golden hour”. This is the times of day immediately preceding sunrise and sunset when the light tends to be warmer and softer, or less contrasty, than the middle of the day. Now, this does mean dragging yourself out of bed very early to arrive on location and be ready to shoot but you really can’t beat experiencing the serenity of a garden in the early light of dawn or bathed in the soft glow of a warm sunset. You often have the garden completely to yourself, and I’ve joked with other photographers that some garden owners may never have experienced this time of day in their own gardens, for shame.
The last thing I’ll mention, for now, is the people you get to meet along the way. To date everyone I’ve met on this new career path of mine has been passionate, knowledgable and supportive. Whether it’s members of the Garden Media Guild (GMG) and Professional Garden Photographers Association (PGPA), or gardeners and garden owners, everyone has welcomed me to their community with open arms and been generous with their time, hospitality and enthusiasm. I’m really looking forward to where my journey as a professional garden photographer leads me to in 2026. Subscribe to my blog to follow along the way.
An Introduction to Dave Fennell Wells - Garden Photographer - in 2026
Hi, I’m Dave Fennell Wells, a professional garden photographer. Thanks for dropping by and checking out my first ever blog entry. I’ve really only just started on my journey as a garden photographer, having worked in Business Banking - a career I never anticipated for myself - for 20 odd years up until April 2025. I wanted to use my first blog to share with you how found myself here, beginning a new career as a garden photographer.
Well, the major turning point in my career came during 2024 when I suffered from Burnout. This manifested in panic attacks, anxiety, low mood and a general sense of having lost my sense of self; Who am I? What do I stand for? What do I want to be? (Certainly not a banker). For a long time I had felt ashamed to tell people who I worked for, mainly because the company I used to work for had a plethora of public controversies surrounding its former leadership, its continued investment in fossil fuel companies and the international arms industry. I got little personal satisfaction from the work I was doing for them (despite the fact a lot of the work I was doing was intended to support customers in financial difficulty). All in all, I felt there was a disconnect with my personal values and beliefs, and I’d lost a sense of who I was and what I enjoyed doing in my own free time. When I did indulge in hobbies, I didn’t feel the joy I used to experience.
I took a period of sick leave to recover from burnout during which I sought therapy and took the opportunity to reassess what I wanted from life. Having read the book Design You Life by Burnett & Evans, I figured I could combine my enjoyment of photography (I hobby I had enjoyed since childhood) and gardening, something I’d found joy in later in life, to see if it is possible to forge a new path.
Upon reflection, I’ve realised gardens had always played a part in my life. From childhood, my brothers and I used to play outside, I’d help my mum plant annuals in our family garden and it was fun spotting the fish and frogs that inhabited our hazardously deep pond. Outside of our own garden, my Mum worked as a conservation cleaner for the National Trust at Kingston Lacey, so we often visited old stately homes and gardens on family holidays. Through this I was exposed to the likes of Stowe, landscaped by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown and as a teenager I visited Heligan in Cornwall on a family holiday, not long after it had been restored and opened to the public. Throughout my adult life I’ve also enjoyed visiting gardens when travelling.
For example, here’s an old iPhone snap of the Jardins de Marqueyssac in France
Back to where we are today, I put in place a plan to depart from my former employer and go it alone as a professional photographer. Transitioning from working in Credit Risk where you have little freedom to be creative and set your own goals, to being freelance and in charge of your own destiny is somewhat daunting. There’s no one telling you what to do, no regular meetings to attend, no annual performance review cycle, and sadly, no monthly salary magically landing in your bank account.
Much as I found most of those regular meetings a real slog, I have discovered that I do benefit from some structure and need to be held accountable which, is why I’ve decided to start this blog. I intend to use it to document what I am getting up to in a work context, in part as a means to ensuring I am working towards my professional and creative goals (yes, I have reinstated a performance review structure). With that in mind, I aim to use this blog to share with you my progress as a garden photographer, the gardens I get to visit and shoot and the people I meet along the way.
That’s not to say this blog is purely for my own use. Along the way I hope to share some professional and creative tips to inspire you, my readers, to get out there with your camera’s to capture whatever interests you, be it flowers, gardens, or anything else you may wish to point your lens at.
“So what have you been up to, Dave”, I imagine you’re asking?
Well, aside from learning about blogging and setting up this site, I recently set my goals for 2026, amongst the usual SMART business objectives like getting published and increasing my social media reach, one of my goals is a personal project to shoot and self-develop 24 rolls of black and white film in 2026. Part of my recovery from burnout in 2024 was to attempt to be more mindful, and I used photography to achieve that. Being out with my camera are some of the only times I achieve a real Flow state of mind. That being said, sometimes having a screen on the back of your camera and all the bells and whistles of modern DSLR or mirrorless cameras can distract from the act of slowing down and noticing. The temptation to look down and check each shot on the rear screen, aka ‘chimping’ can take you out of your creative flow. This prompted me to consider getting back into analogue 35mm film photography. In a few short months I’ve learned a lot, in particular I have been putting into practice the ‘Sunny 16’ rule to guess-timate what exposure settings to use. I’ve even started using this on my digital cameras to be far more mindful in analysing the light falling on a scene and setting exposure before raising the viewfinder to my eye.
Some quick phone calculator maths reveals that I’ll have to shoot 2.5 frames every day of the year to hit the target of 24 rolls in a year. That seems very few, but I sadly discovered over the last few months that even though I say I am a photographer, I could go long stretches of time without picking up my camera. I anticipate setting myself this goal will result in more regular shooting and a consequential improvement in my skills as a photographer. Not least because each frame of 35mm film costs money, with the consequence that shooting film encourages you to slow down and be more intentional in your subject selection and composition. So far, I am on day 5 of the project and I am running ahead of schedule, I’ll keep you updated throughout the course of the year on remaining progress.
In terms of regularity of shooting, I made a concerted effort to leave the warmth and comfort of the sofa this morning and venture out in the snow to take some photos in my neighbourhood. The weather here in Birmingham has felt like -3ºC but the skies were beautifully clear this morning. As you will see below, this resulted in the most wonderful golden sunrise. I took the opportunity to to get out and practice shooting at this time of day as it’s something us garden photographers regularly do, the soft morning light delivering beautiful contrast and colours. I hope you enjoy this small sample of the images I shot in St. Barnabas’ church yard in Birmingham. I kept my ISO low for these shots and used a reasonably wide aperture in the range f/4 to 5.6 to allow enough light into so as to maintain a hand holdable shutter speed c1/100. (All images shot on Lumix GX9 & 20mm f1.7 lens, JPEGs straight out of camera with some cropping).
Keep your eyes peeled or subscribe to my blog for regular updates on what I have been doing in my professional and personal practice as a garden photographer.
