Hello, I’m Gill and I write a photography blog inspired by the landscapes of Suffolk and beyond. Please subscribe to read more of my writing and visit my website to view my images.
This week I ran my first creative garden photography workshop at Beth Chatto’s garden in Essex. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the name, Beth Chatto was a plants woman, landscape designer, author and creator of the Beth Chatto garden, a stunning 7 area garden which she created from a patch of wasteland in the 1960’s.
Although much of my photography is focused on landscapes I have a particular love of photographing flowers which has probably been influenced by my parents who were keen gardeners. I was encouraged to spend time in the garden as a child, learning about the seasons and how things grew. I even had my own vegetable patch. I am afraid to say that my early enthusiasm hasn’t really endured and my current garden is more functional than pretty but I can still identify the plants and flowers and grow and my veg!
My parents introduced me to Beth Chatto’s garden almost 30 years ago and I fell in love with the beautiful planting schemes and tranquil atmosphere. It is a place I have been visiting periodically ever since.
There is something about flower photography that I find really absorbing. In some ways it feels more immersive than landscape photography, just the act of focusing on small details seems freeing and I find it easier to think more creatively. I also like to think in terms of close up and abstract and will usually be looking to shoot a series of images instead of random single photographs.
I love the idea of creating images where the identity of the subject isn’t immediately obvious. Ambiguity is intriguing, it creates questions for the viewer and opens your mind to a different way of seeing. By paying close attention to the smaller details it is possible to create abstract images using shapes, texture and colour without revealing too much about the actual subject.
“To abstract is to draw out the essence of a matter. To abstract in art is to separate certain fundamentals from irrelevant material which surrounds them.” – Ben Shahn
These images of leaves from Beth Chatto’s garden were inspired by a body of work titled String Theory by Mark Cornick. Marks beautiful images have intrigued me for some time. The body of work is a series of botanical images created using a combination of ICM and in camera multiple exposure. I love the soft shapes, colour pallet and dreamy nature of the images and although the subject matter is ambiguous to a certain extent it is obvious to me that the images depict some type of plant.
My leaves are different in that they are straight shots taken with a telephoto lens and a wide aperture. Here it is the selective focus that provides some sort of ambiguity although again I think the subject matter is easily identifiable.
These images all feature leaves from the tall waterside plant that you can see in the first image ( I failed to take note of the plants name adding to the ambiguity of the images!)
The first shot was taken in the shade so the colours are softer and there are no harsh shadows. The square shots were all taken looking into the sun so that the leaves were backlit. This really enhanced the patterns and I loved the graphical nature of the resulting images.
All my leaf shots were taken with a 70-200mm lens as I couldn’t get close enough to the leaves to shoot with a macro lens, but I did try the macro with some of the succulents in the garden and came away with this panel of images that I love for the beautiful soft colours and tones.
A macros lens will give you a much shallower plane of focus and you can see this in these images. Only small portions of each shot is sharp, but I think this adds to the mystery and mood of the images.
This idea of abstraction has been with me for a long time and it is something I explored a little in my project ‘At the edge of Permanence’. Here I used a macro lens and focused on the seaweed under a fast flowing coastal stream. The ambiguity in the image was created by the reflected light and the wind across the surface of the water.
Water can be an endless source of inspiration for abstract images. It can yield patterns from reflected light, from its flow and from environmental elements reflected from its surface. If you would like to check out more work in this theme I suggest you have a look at the Ebb and Flow monograph by American photographer T. J. Thorne. His images are a beautiful series of patterns and colours created from light, reflections and moving water. They have a serene and calming feel and are images that I can get lost in and find endlessly fascinating.
Abstract photography might seem a long way from considered and crafted landscape images but I think as a photographer it is good to experiment and have a go at aspects of photography that are out of your comfort zone. Just by pointing your camera at smaller details you are learning to see in a more nuanced way. You will become more adept at seeing the subtle patterns of light and shade, of texture, colour and form. You will begin to develop a way of seeing objects or scenes in all their facets and I think this is something really useful that you can take forward in your landscape photography.
Abstract photography is also a great way to express your creativity but it does require you to experiment and not be too worried about failing. The key is to:
Be curious
Try different things
Embrace variety and different techniques
Treat the camera as an observational tool and when you see an object see it in all its detail.
Keep a notebook and record what inspires you
Look at other photographers work
Study bodies of work and make a note of the projects that resonate with you.
Visual exploration is key and I think it is really important to understand that good photographic expression is impossible without good seeing.
I have found that the more observant I become in the landscape the more detail I notice in all aspects of my photography.
Good images are not just about awesome landscapes and good light, they are about good observation, exploring the scene thoroughly and then putting together a good composition.
Noticing everything is key and it is a skill we can all learn and practice. If I look back at my images from 10 years ago I would say that my observational skills have improved tremendously over time. I didn’t notice enough back then. I am definitely a more skilled observer now and I think my images have improved as a result.
Looking at smaller details and playing with abstract images may not reward you with stunning images to hang on your wall but I guarantee that it will help with your observational and creative skills.
It seems to me that the ability to notice and observe in detail is a little under explored in landscape photography teaching but I believe developing these skills is crucial if you want to grow as a photographer.
I will leave you with a quote by Elliot Erwitt
To me, photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place... I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.
Thank you very much for reading and until next week enjoy your photography.
Gill
Wonderfully written and fabulous images that has more inspiration than you know.
Hi Gill, thanks for another great post.
I’m also very interested in gardening, just as much as photography in fact, and I love to combine the two. We visited Great Dixter this summer which is truly inspiring, both as a garden a great place to photograph.
A garden can be a landscape in miniature and vice versa so I think landscape and garden photography also mesh well together 🙂