Category Archives: Gardens

Two more covers to start the Year

A lovely start to 2011 with another two covers, one for BBC Gardeners’ World and another for The English Garden

Wintery Delights

A couple of Winter photographs taken at Abbey House Gardens last year. The feature has just appeared in Gardens Illustrated this month.

Two covers for December

Very pleased to have two cover images for December with Gardens Illustrated and Coast Magazine.

Another near miss at the Garden Media Guild Awards 2010

We had our Garden Media Guild Awards last Wednesday (01/12/10) and I was finalist in all three of the photography categories, Photographer of the Year, Features Photographer of the Year and Book Photographer of the Year.

Photographer of the Year Finalist 2010

Features Photographer of the Year Finalist 2010

Book Photographer of the Year Finalist 2010

Here is a selection of images from my entries

Bourton House

Hanham Court Gardens

Autumn Containers with Bob Purnell

Miscanthus Sinensis Nepalensis

Nerine 'Zeal Grilse'

Alys Fowler

Toby Buckland - Practical Gardening Handbook

Long time no Blog !

It’s been a chaotic but good couple of months, hence, leaving me with no time to put anything on my blog. I have been shooting for the National Trust Magazine in Belfast, Northumberland, Norwich and Dorset for a Craftsperson feature that will be out this Autumn; The Gardens at Melplash Court, Dorset and Dieramas in Devon for Gardens Illustrated; A couple of stunning Arne Maynard Gardens for a new series in Gardens Illustrated for 2011; Toby Buckland’s Flower Gardens of Greenacre book which will be out later this year along with his regular features in BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine; New plants and roses at Chelsea and Hampton Court Flower Shows for Gardeners’ World; A Shingle Garden in Pevensey Bay for Coast Magazine; Exmouth Mussels and Fidget Pie for Countryfile magazine and Head Gardeners’ at Lytes Cary, Grey’s Court and Nymans for an English Garden Magazine series that will be running in 2011. I even found time for a cricket game playing for Gardeners’ World against River cottage in Devon

Gardeners' World Vs River Cottage ( Toby Buckland delivers a leg spin to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall)

Here are a few tear sheets from recently published work

Gardens Illustrated

Country Living

BBC Gardener's World Magazine

The English Garden

Olive Magazine

Countryfile Magazine

RPS Plant and Garden Photography Course

Both myself and Paul Debois took our first course on Sunday 2nd May at The Royal Photographic Society in Bath. It was a great success and we had 10 very eager and talented students ready to be enlightened by the tips and tricks we use in photographing the gardening world. Our next course will be running on Sunday 26th September . Here are a couple of images which were shot in the second part of the day when we have a practical session. A very basic set up with natural light, a bit of fill and some seasonal lilac and a Clematis montana bloom.

It’s a waiting game

So often on my shoots I find myself waiting for the perfect weather conditions. On this particular shoot at Boughton House in Northamptonshire, I had visited twice in order to get the right conditions, a light dusting of frost, good light and still. The commission is for Gardens Illustrated Magazine and my brief is to shoot the recently finished Landscape Garden called Orpheus by Kim Wilkie. We had a cherry picker booked so I could shoot from an extremely high vantage point taking in the entire landscape. I arrived at Boughton House nice and early to see that a good inch of snow had fallen over night covering the garden, this was not what I had ordered! Anyway, I managed to recce the view knowing I would be returning in a weeks time when hopefully the conditions will be in my favour.

Well two weeks later the conditions were perfect and you will be able to see the final set once they have been published in February 2011.

On my last evening at the garden I was told about the west front of the house lighting up like a beacon as the last rays of golden light hit the windows, this I had to see and capture. Here are a couple of pics taken with my iphone as I patiently waited.

Winter Flowering Clematis

This shows both the behind the scenes of all the clamps and gadgets I needed to photograph these Winter flowering clematis along with a few finished shots. These flowers are so tiny they often need a bit of a helping hand. This forms part of a commission I am working on for Gardens Illustrated due to be published in February 2011.