Garden Photography: A beginner’s guide

• Don’t splash out on an expensive camera straight away.  Practise is the key, the more photos you take, the better a photographer you’ll become.
• In the summer, it’s often best to photograph gardens and plants early in the morning or late in the evening when the sun is low in the sky and less harsh. Sometimes great photographs can be taken at midday, but only if there is some cloud cover. Sunset is perfect for atmospheric shots.  You’re looking for light that creates a sense of dimension and texture.  In other words, soft shadows.
• Check the weather forecast before heading out with your camera.  Ideally you want a still morning with a mixture of sunshine and cloud cover.  Plants moving around in the wind can cause problems.
• Remove distracting elements. Tidy away any stray garden hoses, spades, bikes and buckets.
• Use a tripod
• Composition. When you photograph a flower, get in close and concentrate on the flower itself.  The famous photojournalist Robert Capa once said, “If your photographs aren't good enough, you're not close enough.”
• If you’re composing a shot of the whole garden, consider viewpoints that invite the garden to be explored, so focus on archways, steps or meandering pathways.
• Timing is everything. You want to capture peak seasonal moments in the garden – wisteria in bloom over the front of the house, cherry trees in blossom, or summer borders in all their glory. 
• Remember that a garden is a sum of its parts, so remember to focus beyond the flowers. Photograph trees and walls, statues or structures, all the things that give your garden its personality.

Do you have any garden shots you’re proud of?  We’d love to see them. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. See below for a selection of properties currently for sale with beautiful gardens.