Three professional garden photographers – Claire Tackacs, Sue Stubbs and Simone Cottrell – talk to Rob Ditessa about the ideas and techniques they use to capture their beautiful backyard images.
In 2005, while working as a landscape photographer, Claire Takacs photographed a garden as a project during a photography course. Inspired by the genre, as well as the chance to experience gardens at their best, Takacs decided to specialise in garden photography. Clients compliment her work, which is published widely, for how well her images capture their gardens' qualities. This year sees the publication of a book she is working on with Chelsea Flower Show award-winning garden designer, Phillip Johnson.
In this genre perspective is important, she says. A low perspective is good to get foliage or planting in the foreground. To get a view from a higher perspective she takes hand-held shots from the top of a tall ladder. To tell the story of a garden she likes to use a range of shots, including wide-angle landscape-style shots to capture as much detail as she can in one image from a pleasing viewpoint, mid-range shots to show the various aspects of the garden and planting, macros for fine details, and plant 'portraits'. Takacs advises that amateurs should work with the best light, for instance taking wide shots when the light is at its most atmospheric. They should also consider the impact of the changing seasons, she says.
A spring snow scene at Kenrokuen gardens, Japan. Image by Claire Takacs. Telephoto lens, focal length 85mm, f/4 @ 1/200s, ISO 100, tripod and cable release. A fast shutter speed was required to freeze the falling snow. Basic colour management in Lightroom. This image won the inaugural International Garden Photographer of the Year competition in 2008.
Sue Stubbs knew at eight years of age that she wanted be a photographer, and after studying the craft at college she embarked on a successful career as a lifestyle shooter. Her interest in garden photography was sparked when she filled in for an injured photographer on a shoot for a book. That work won her the Best Image in the Horticulture Media Awards and the Gold Laurel Award. While she does other work, Stubbs has continued to shoot gardens for high-end magazines. In October 2013 she released a book, Australian Coastal Gardens (Murdoch Books) created with Myles Baldwin.
In comparing landscape and gardening work, Stubbs says "Gardens are considered. They're generally planted and not just happened upon. There is a thoughtfulness expressed by the designer or maker of the garden and this makes it personal. It makes a connection and that's the connection I look for – to make gardens personal and intimate. I like to be drawn into an image with a focus and this is what I look for when I'm composing an image. As each garden is different, so is the composition." She says that because she shoots for books and magazines she's always thinking of how an image will look on a page, and how it will fit into a story. "Taking this into consideration, my compositions consist of using features such as a plant or a tree wall, combined with texture, colour, and shape."
Simone Cottrell's enthusiasm for photography has never waned from the moment her parents gave her a SLR Nikon camera for her 16th birthday. After other successful jobs and then studying the craft at college, she eventually found a new career eight years ago as one of the two official photographers at the Royal Botanic Gardens organisation. Garden photography is a core part of her work. Photographing a flower is like photographing a person, she says. You have to find their best side, use the best lighting and ensure it suits their personality.
In composing a frame Cottrell emphasises there many things to consider, but she believes a picture must have depth so your eyes are taken in and around the shot. She advises enthusiasts to look for texture, and not to forget the 'golden rule of thirds', whereby you divide your frame with a 'noughts and crosses' grid and place the key subject on any point where the lines intersect. Use movement, focus, capture a story and avoid anything which distracts the viewer from the subject, she says.
Californian garden designed by Gary Ratway. Wide-angle lens @ 17mm, 0.6s @ f/8, ISO 100. By Claire Takacs. Two exposures, made with a tripod. Colour corrected in Lightroom before the two images were blended in Photoshop to increase detail.
Three views on a tripod To Takacs, using a tripod is important for stopping camera shake. It does slow her down, but it's her preference, and some work must be sharp for enlargements. "I find if I want to focus on a really fine detail and I've got my camera set on my tripod, it's just much easier for me to compose and frame my images. I normally see something, and then I try and capture that by moving my tripod and camera around accordingly until I get what I want."
Cottrell says there may be times where she won't use a tripod, but those times when she will want to use it far outweigh the time spent lugging it around. "I always have a spare tripod and reflector in my car," she says.
With a different perspective, Stubbs explains, "I don't work on a tripod as I prefer the flexibility of camera angles. As gardens have movement created by the wind or the breath of a breeze, slower shutter speeds generally don't work for me, so therefore I don't find it necessary to work with a tripod. I would rather have less depth of field than movement in the trees. However, there are specific instances where I want the movement of blowing grasses or water flowing, and in those cases I will use a tripod and adjust the shutter speed accordingly." In commercial shoots, when you have 20 shots to do in half an hour in changing light, a tripod will slow you down. Brace yourself by putting your elbows into your chest, take a breath and hold it, steady yourself, and shoot, says Stubbs.
Blue Mountains Botanic Garden, Mount Tomah. Image by Simone Cottrell. Side or backlight is great to use, says Cottrell. An 80cm softbox using off-camera Speedlight 580 EX II flash fired via Pocketwizards. The seat had to be lit slightly. Canon EOS 5D Mk II, TS 24mm lens, 1/125s @ f/8. RAW, On tripod.
Settings & technique In her formative years Stubbs used film and that influences how she works today. She says, "I generally choose a mid-tone for a reading then adjust exposure compensation for the desired exposure. If I'm exposing for shadows I'll adjust my compensation down and likewise if I'm shooting for highlights I take it up. I occasionally get it wrong, but I try not to. It's better to have the correct exposure than try to fix it later. The more you practice, the easier it becomes. There is not always time to use a hand-held meter and I love my camera meter. Having an end image in mind helps decide what I'm exposing for. If I'm shooting deep shadows and want to keep it dark and moody, but still hold detail in the shadows, then that's what I'll expose for.
If it's the highlights that I want to hold, then I'll expose for that." She adds, "Shooting into the sun often amounts to flare. I'm not a fan of flare, but sometimes it can't be avoided. I use a lens hood, or where possible, have someone shade the lens with black scrim or card. However, if it's there and unavoidable, I try to place it where it will work within the composition."
Takacs assesses the light and wind, starting at around f/8 for general shots, but if the light is low and the exposure has to be long, and too much movement in the plants might result, she either adjusts the f-stop to f/5.6 or increases the ISO rating to 200. Takacs rarely uses bracketing. She looks at the back of the camera to check the exposure, and if there is a big contrast difference, she brackets, setting it manually. When it comes to white balance she leaves it on automatic in the camera, using RAW, and in Lightroom she says she will look at the picture and then either warm it up slightly, or re-assess it.
Cottrell explains she makes her settings manually, and always shoots in RAW and RGB, but not in the sRGB colour space because it offers a smaller range (which involves a technical argument related to print capability). "Generally I check my shots via the histogram so you know exactly what you're clipping at the time of shooting. If you're shooting a landscape scene, you generally have time to get out an ND filter if you have problems. If you're shooting people or plants, you should be able to move yourself or them, or add flash to reduce the differences between shadows and highlights. If it's overcast, or it's early or morning light with direct or side lighting, you shouldn't have too many problems if you're checking your histogram."
Many photographers over-complicate white balance, suggests Cottrell, who has a film background where different speeds of film are used for different light situations. "If I'm shooting something that has to be exactly and precisely the right colour, such as artworks or certain flowers, and I'm not in consistent lighting, then I'll use a grey card. Actually, you can get cards which have more than grey on them. They have white, black, and graduated greys. I prefer to use those cards. In tricky lighting situations where I don't have the time to set up a custom camera WB then I'll shoot on daylight setting or K5200 and then adjust the white balance in post-production. I shoot RAW all the time, but if you shoot in JPEG, you wouldn't want to do this. I never have the camera on Auto WB though."
Australian Botanic Garden, Mount Annan. Image by Simone Cottrell. "When I'm using repetition I aim to make a 'hero' out of one object to help direct the eye," says Cottrell. "Here there is a cluster of heroes! Balance, colour, and the shapes make for striking shots. This was an overcast day. There were no objects in the background to distract the eye." Canon EOS 5D Mk II, 1/160s @ f/10, EF 100m IS USM Macro. RAW, tripod.
Using a polariser Cottrell may sometimes use a polariser filter in mid-morning or afternoon or for reflections, or neutral-density filters. "They're always in my bag and if I need them I know they're there. If I were photographing waterfalls consistently, I'd use them more." Takacs continues the thought that a polariser lens comes in handy if you're photographing a pond in sunlight, and you want to control the reflections.
Light shapers & flash Cottrell will use any adequate object at hand as a reflector or shaper – a white sheet of paper or even a T-shirt or a car - to add reflected light onto a plant. She may even specifically choose a location to shoot because she can reflect light onto it. She says, "Often you don't have much gear with you, so get creative". Sometimes in winter it takes a long time for enough light to appear, but you need a hint of light. Cottrell suggests using off-camera flash. Takacs has recently added a diffuser to her kit, and Stubbs uses diffusers and a reflector for detail work such as plant close-ups.
Post-production & workflow Takacs uses the Photoshop CC and Lightroom Version 5, even though she doesn't enjoy post-production work. However, she acknowledges that it's one of the most important aspects of the process in providing top quality work. "I shoot in RAW, and I use Lightroom for basic colour management, to get detail in the shadows, and to make sure I'm not clipping off too many highlights, and for basic colour and contrast. Then I use Photoshop for touching up, if there's any spotting. Sometimes, because I'm using a tripod, I take two exposures, and then I blend them in Photoshop if I want to get detail in the sky as well." She adds that in Lightroom there is, under lens correction in 'Develop' mode, a handy feature called 'Enable profile correction' which takes a bit of vignetting off around the edges. A 'level' and 'vertical' feature starts automatically if there is something that it can reference in the picture, or you can do it manually. Stubbs uses Photoshop CS5, but spends as little time as possible in post-production. She aims initially to get everything right in camera, but adds a few adjustments are always needed to enhance the images. It's a combination of fine tuning, for example, boosting the contrast or flattening it off a bit, depending on the light on the day, she explains. Cottrell aims to always get the shot right in-camera and will shoot a subject numerous times until she has the shot. As a last resort, she will use post-production technology, including Photoshop, for retouching. "I value my time, and the more time I spend behind a camera, the happier I am," she says.
Hawley House, Tasmania, Australian Coastal Gardens by Myles Baldwin, Murdoch Books, 2013. Image by Sue Stubbs. Canon EOS 1D Mk III, 24mm focal length, f/9 @ 1/125s, ISO 100, Aperture Priority, +0.7 EV.
Simone Cottrell's kit In underscoring the variety of her work Cottrell says that sometimes she feels she has to take a portable studio with her! Amongst her array of equipment are a Canon EOS 1D Mk III, and a Canon EOS 5D Mk II. He lens kit includes a 24-105mm unit she can use with the EOS 5D and its full frame, a 70-200mm, a 24mm tilt/shift lens, and a macro 100mm lens. For garden work her preference is to shoot with prime lenses. She wouldn't use the 24-105mm lens as she believes it is just not sharp enough for those scenes, which may end up getting used in a large format. For a small flower or seed, she uses the 180mm macro and extension tubes, and the 100mm macro. For portable lighting she uses two 580 EX flashes plus 60-80cm softboxes with stands, using pocket wizards to fire them. "Sometimes just one softbox will add in enough light."
Claire Takacs' kit Takac's kit includes the following cameras and lenses: • Canon EOS 5D Mk III • Gitzo carbon-fibre tripod with Arca Swiss Monoball head (Z series) • Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM • Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM • Canon wide angle EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM • Canon standard EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM • Canon remote switch RS 80N3 • Hoya HD UV filters on all lenses • Polariser: Manfrotto PRO CPL • Cable release Takacs also includes a rake and a broom to tidy up pathways, if she is working on a book project. "It makes a big difference, because sometimes you want the shot to look tidy." A tripod, with a mount for the 70-200mm telephoto lens, is essential to keep the camera perfectly still. "It takes a bit more time to move around (on a tripod), but it's worth doing it for the camera shake. I've got some weird methods, and I normally use the mirror lock-up feature in the camera as well, to try to stop any shake, especially for macro shots."
Sue Stubbs' kit Sue Stubbs uses a Canon kit, and also shoots with a wide range of lenses: • Canon EOS-1D X - "When I'm shooting I have two camera bodies and a holster with a Canon 100mm macro lens, spare battery, and memory cards." • Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM • Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM • Canon TS-E 45mm f/2.8. "I use the tilt/shift lens for courtyards and small spaces where there are walls and fences, to minimise converging lines".
Simone Cottrell's tips Cottrell offers the following advice for amateurs keen to tackle garden photography. "I always say to myself, 'What is this photo saying?' That way I can make it accessible for others to see what I'm seeing". • Straighten your horizons, and remember to turn off your image stabiliser if you're shooting on a tripod. Don't shoot lower than ISO 200 for landscapes, garden-scapes, and flora or fauna shots if you can help it. But note there's still noise when you're shooting higher ISOs. If you don't have the cash for a cable release, use your timer to minimise camera shake when you're shooting long exposures. • Get good at seeing the light. If you shoot in the magic hours, that's a great way to start getting great photos. Your next step is to 'see' the range of light and tones. • Shoot within the 'sweet' spot of your lens. Test the lens' sharpest aperture setting. Usually it's between f/8 and f/11.
The Top Place, John's River, NSW. Image by Sue Stubbs. Nikon D2X.
Sue Stubbs' tips Stubbs says, "Living in Australia, the sun is strong and the light can be harsh, so choose times when the sun is low. The midday sun flattens out and lacks the moulding and drama of the early morning light, and plants melt and wilt in the heat. The best shooting times are just after sunrise or late afternoon. Some gardens will shoot better in overcast light, so just hope there are clouds in the sky on those days! Often there is no second chance to go back when the weather is right, so make the most of the day. Gardens can look beautiful just after the rain when the colours are more saturated, or dramatically wild when there are storm clouds in the background, or backlit with the halo of the sun. If you can, walk the garden with the gardener or the designer – the one who put the love into it – and allow them to tell you the garden's story, and then put that into creating your images. Often I'll get to a location in the dark just before sunrise, never having seen the garden before, and I'll be privileged to watch its beauty unfold with the sunrise. It's full of truly magic moments. That magical moment is what I try to capture, the garden designers' heart in a photographer's mind."
Article first published in Australian Photography + digital (March, 2014).
