Photography Class for Beginners @ Kew

Where: Kew Gardens
When: 10:30am-1:30pm
Who: Beginners looking to enjoy garden photography
Price: £5 + £13.50 entrance (payable via Paypal)
Meeting: Victoria Gate, Kew Gardens
End point: Pavilion Restaurant for Garden POTY

This “focus on” event concentrates on garden photography and in particular, composition and framing, in relation to plant portrait photography.

Kew Gardens is absolutely beautiful and a photographer’s dream if you love taking pictures of flowers, trees, wildlife and stunning vistas. It’s very easy to get to (on the District line) and there will also be the chance to view the best images taken from gardens across the world at this year’s Garden Photographer of the Year exhibition.

The event will take place whatever the weather – please come prepared for rain, cold or blazing heat! It’s suitable for SLRs and compact cameras, costing £5 plus an entrance fee of £13.50.

Focus On: Garden Photography

Concentrating on just a small area of Kew - inside the Palm House and around the Rose Garden - I will show you how to photograph plants in various ways. We’ll discuss:

Finding a viewpoint: Kew’s glasshouse walkways will help with this!
Using macro: how to use depth of field and your macro setting/lens
Plant portraiture: using compositional skills to really capture a portrait
Shooting vistas: looking at techniques for shooting landscapes at Kew

We’ll meet up after an hour to discuss how we are getting on and a chance to ask any questions. We will then continue onto the Temperate House before finishing the session at the Pavilion Restaurant.

The meetup will officially finish at 1:30pm but there is the chance to have lunch together and view the Garden POTY exhibition before exploring the rest of Kew as we wish.

“Thanks for a very nice day. Very friendly group. Lots of tips and advice.” Nathalie, Previous Kew Event (2009)

Be Inspired
Photos from our trip to Kew in 2009
Flickr photos of Kew Gardens
My Flower Photos

Further Info
More info? Go to Kew Gardens website
Queries? Give Natalie a call on 07773 819053
Prefer email? Send it to thephotoschool@gmail.com

Photos from Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew

Back in August, the Photo School spent a sunny summer’s day at Kew for our Garden Photography Masterclass. So it was nice to have a reminder yesterday of the fun we had by seeing some more stunning photography shot at Kew.

This time is was by professional photographer Heather Angel.

Heather spent a year capturing the plants and animals that inhabit west London. I love the commentary that she gives in her slideshow. See her pics from Kew on the BBC website and our beginner shots from August on the Photo School’s events page.

Looking forward to seeing more wildlife photos at the National History Museum later this month.

Join us if you can!

Happy photographing! Natalie

What better to do on a summer Sunday than to have a day at Kew Gardens learning how to improve your garden photography.

This practical photography event coincides with The International Garden Photographer of the Year exhibition.

There will be the chance to view the best images taken from gardens across the world whilst exploring Kew and improving your garden and plant portraiture photography.

The event runs from 10:30am til 4pm and costs £35. This includes:

• Kew entrance costing £13
• Tuition by acclaimed landscape and portrait photographer, Jon Mortimer
• Hands-on photography at Kew’s Houses, Conservatories and Walkways
• Chance to view and be inspired by the Garden POTY exhibition
• Beginner garden photography handouts

Please pay via Paypal to natalie@photolate.com to confirm your place. Min 8 people. Max 15 people. This practical is aimed at enthusiastic beginner photographers. Lunch not included.

Theme
Jon Mortimer, an acclaimed landscape and portrait photographer will lead the group. The topics to be discussed and taught during the day will include:

• How to select the angles in a garden
• Framing and composition in relation to garden and plant portrait photography
• Using a variety of lenses for different elements of garden photography
• Learning how time of day and weather affect garden photography
• Using natural light and small camera top flash
• Switching to indoor plant photography
• Choosing the best equipment for a desired theme

Itinerary
The event will comprise of the following parts:

1) Warm-up: be inspired by others’ garden photographs at the POTY exhibition

2) Introduction: Jon will discuss the main elements of garden photography

3) Hands on tuition: we will be travelling around the gardens stopping at Kew’s key attractions. For each attraction, the tutor will talk through the main areas of this field of photography and then we will spend some time practicing what we have learnt, with Jon always close by to help and advise

4) Late lunch: stopping at one of the cafes we will take the chance to discuss and share our own experiences, each sharing our best photo so far

5) More key attractions and teaching: attractions may include Xstrata Treetop Walkway, Palm House, Princess of Wales Conservatory, Waterlily House

6) Evaluation: we will discuss our experiences and evaluate our images

Exhibition
The International Garden POTY exhibition is in its 2nd year and receives over 19,000 images from amateur and professional photographers alike.

This year the exhibition includes a special category ‘World Botanic Gardens’ to celebrate Kew’s 250th birthday. Other categories include garden views, plant portraits, wildlife in the garden, trees, people in the garden & the edible garden. It is likely to be a great inspirational start to the day!

Things To Bring
Please bring your camera and a tripod if possible. It’s always advisable to carry spare batteries and memory cards just in case. If you wish, please bring printed samples of your own garden photographs.

We will be stopping at one of the cafés for a late lunch.
Feel free to bring a packed lunch if you prefer.

Location
We will meet promptly at 10:30am at Kew Gardens, Victoria Gate.

This is the largest entrance and nearest to Kew Gardens station (District line and London Overground services), about 3 minutes walk from the station.

This gate is on Kew Road, situated in the middle of the Gardens, and the 65 bus stops outside. The Victoria Gate visitor centre provides retail, coffee shop, toilets, information and Friends desk.

Find Out More
http://www.kew.org/vi…
http://www.tfl.gov.uk…
Call Natalie on 07773 819053