The Art of Flower & Garden Photography

by Clive Nichols

This book is a superb illustrated guide to plant and garden photography from one of the world's foremost practitioners. Aimed at the many photographers who find their greatest satisfaction in capturing the beauty of plants and gardens, this lavish guide, featuring the author's own award-winning work, provides expert advice on all aspects of the subject. Topics range from close-up details and individual plant portraits to composing vistas that reveal the grandest gardens in all their glory. In addition to its international coverage, which includes exotic plants and the gardens of many countries, the book offers abundant advice on equipment, light and weather conditions, and processing and enhancing digital images.

Genres: Photography, Nonfiction, Gardening, Art

160 pages, Paperback

First published May 28, 2007

Reviews

[Mir]

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clive Nichols is my virtual photography mentor. His photos are the "Chef's Kiss" of the flower loving world. He uses light in the garden in a masterful way ~ I dream of capturing my garden in a similar manner.

So of course, any book with a compilation of his photographs is a "want-to-read" for me or should I say "want-to-ogle?!" I wish I'd noticed the publication date of this book tho before I ordered ~ it's 2007. As is true with any professional, Mr. Nichols has honed his craft in the subsequent years and the photos he produces today are far superior to the ones featured in this book. At least in my opinion.

I did not buy as a "how to" or for photography tips and don't expect to find those within these pages. There are some lovely photos but I'd personally recommend searching out a more current collection of his work. That's what I intend to do.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to learn some fundamentals of garden photography then this book is a must.

The book is not so much 'how to take photographs' - some camera knowledge is assumed already - but it does teach you how to look at gardens through the eye of a specialist garden photographer.

You learn about composition, lighting and all the other variables that you should take into account. If you follow the guidance in the book, then your photography of gardens and plants will improve (assuming you're not a world reknowned photographer already...).

Once read, it's a book to keep going back to just to marvel at the beautiful images in their own right.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical, generous advice (including settings), fun links to online collections and resources, and lovely photos.

[Karen Soanes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful pictures with camera settings included. Not a tutorial but a book of general principles related to photographing flowers and larger gardens. Some interesting ideas to try out.

[Lois · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved poring over the gorgeous, lush photographs, whilst lightly browsing the text. The author is a brilliant artist and English, so he uses words like 'whilst' with more grace than I.

[Gwen]

covers all the bases: light, people, weather, flowers, lenses, depth of field, color. Pretty nice pics.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written. Informative and lots of beautiful garden and flower photographs to enjoy.