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.