Shooting Garden – Vincent McMonagle

Vincent McMonagle shares his pro tips on how to enhance your garden portfolio with professional style photography.

The garden is a family’s dream and a designer’s creation and as such, comprises three main elements, as I see it:

THE OWNER

This is the person with the dream. They employ a designer because they believe that person can fulfill that dream,

THE DESIGNER
The designer has put in years of study and hard work to fulfill the client’s dream. At garden parties the designer’s name will be casually mentioned; and of course, the design fees will be doubled at least!

THE GARDEN
This is the little piece of heaven that the family will spend their lives in. As their lives change and grow, the planting will age and grow and so the design will change drastically over its lifetime.

A great garden changes and grows with the seasons; a sensational garden becomes part of the home. It doesn’t have to perform like another room with fixtures, lighting, a party area, rest area, etc. but it must be that place that retains those special moments, those memories of family and friends.

And then, for the purpose of this article, there is a fourth ingredient – the photographer; the person who visually captures all these elements. How I shoot is neither right nor wrong, it’s just the way I do it, but there are some practical pointers that I can share with you:

BEST TIME TO SHOOT A GARDEN
Early morning is recognised as the best time to capture a garden on film. If you look at a Kelvin chart it will show you the colour of the light. For warm, moody shots in the morning to white light at midday and of course those spectacular sunsets.

If you Google “Kelvin chart” you will see exactly what I am talking about; this will help you with the mood of shots you want.

SHOOTING ELEMENTS
The photographer’s job is to shoot the elements from differing angles; showing the planting, and the features within the garden while concentrating on colour, depth of field, background. I always look for colour to bring life to the image. I try to capture that moment when everything looks amazing, on that perfect day at that perfect time.

CAPTURING THAT IMAGE
Getting that perfect image just takes patience. Set up your tripod (essential for sharp images) and assess the situation. Are you shooting in the correct direction? Into the sun and you get a flare, away from it and you get heavy shadows. So what’s the answer? What are you focusing on? Move around your subject, checking the angle as you go. I use a plastic slide mount to look through before I take the shot. Check the background – is there anything that might detract from the photograph, like hoses. Focus on the planting, then take your shot. Let the camera do the work; use the shadows and the light to emphasise the image. People often say you can’t shoot when it’s raining (come on folks this is Ireland!) On the contrary, some of my best images are either just after or during a good soaking.

Apart from the practical side, I look for the story in the garden, the natural flow to the features. Water, sundials, statues, stonework, steps etc. can be used as backdrops in the shot. Using focal length gives you greater depth or you can just leave it to the client’s imagination – let the image tell its own story.

Over the past few years, I have had the pleasure of working with some of the best gardeners in Ireland be they enthusiasts, designers, architects, or artists. Thank you to all garden lovers, at whatever level, for making the rest of us smile when we view the fruits of your labour. ✽

VINCENT MCGONAGLE is a professional photographer, accomplished in commercial and editorial photography. A GLDA Corporate Member, Vincent’s work has appeared in leading horticultural publications such as Compass (GLDA), Irish Garden and

Horticulture Connected. Contact Vincent McMonagle Photography via his website: www.vmcmonaglephotography.com.