A New Cottage Garden

‘Among the things made by man, nothing is prettier than an English cottage garden, and they often teach lessons that great gardeners should learn.’ William Robinson, The English Flower Garden, 1883

I am currently working on a book about Cottage Gardens and I need your help! We are looking for beautiful cottage style gardens, that I can photograph for the book, publication 2024 by Pimpernel Press, at some point during the coming year. We need gardens for all seasons, and anywhere in the UK (my preference would be in the south of the country, but thats because I’m trying to be sensible with travel!) The book will cover my own ‘new’ garden, and the process of turning it from a square of drab and lifeless lawn in to (hopefully!) an overflowing flower filled space thats good for wildlife. I will also be shooting inspirational gardens that illustrate what I am aiming for. I have been shooting a lot at Gravetye Manor, the former home of the ‘father of cottage gardening’, William Robinson, but I’d love to feature more ‘achievable’ gardens… I have a few on my list, but your suggestions would be welcome. Many thanks for reading this, and I hope you enjoy the images.

I’d like to thank the team at Gravetye Manor for putting up with my trudging around the garden this year at all hours and asking endless questions about their fabulous work there. Tom Coward (head gardener), especially, is a mine of useful information, not just about gardening, but also about William Robinson…

Please do get in touch if you can suggest any lovely cottage ‘style’ gardens, or indeed if you need a photographer… or just to say hello! email me or use the contact form on the website.

Gravetye Manor, East Sussex, England

I have spent much of the last year photographing at Gravetye Manor in East Sussex. What a joy it’s been. I have done a series of shoots for one of the garden magazines and have also been involved in shooting some interiors for the hotel itself. Alongside this, I have been photographing for a book due to be published in 2024 about cottage gardens, and if you know your cottage gardening you will know that William Robinson, who lived here for much of the early part of the twentieth century, was a major figure in popularising that style of gardening. It’s a beautifully planted garden and the current gardener, Tom Coward, has done a fabulous job keeping the ethos of Robinson, whilst also paying heed to the needs of a modern garden. He and his team have also been a help when it comes to my own efforts in the garden; It never ceases to amaze me how much I don’t know about gardening! despite having been quite obsessed for many years…

If you would like to see any of the recent garden images at Gravetye Manor, please do let me know (there are some on the website, but I can send samples if you like). And if you are after Hotel Photography, do check out my web site, and many thanks for reading this! Have a great week, Mark

From Greece to Chelsea

It’s been a busy few weeks. As my last post described, I had been in Greece, shooting for interior designers MHD… then on to Chelsea for a rather more ‘normal’ show (last year we had the slightly odd spectacle of late summer at Chelsea so it was good to be back with the more usual early summer hues!). Also a kitchen shoot with Guild Anderson in Wiltshire which looked fabulous. I have selected a few images for this post, but have uploaded a lot more on to the website. Please do take a look and keep in touch!

I’m also working on a book for the excellent Pimpernel press about cottage gardens… here’s one from my own place… let me know if you know of any beautiful traditional cottage gardens! might be worth a visit ;-)

Greece, beautiful Greece

Always lovely to be commissioned for a photography job but some definitely have a particular 'hard to turn down' allure - do you ever work in Tuscany? Can you photograph our castello near Sienna? We're looking for an interiors photographer for a project near Jaipur...  And so it was when the brilliant Martin Hulbert Design team wondered if I had the time to document their work at a private villa on a Greek Island - um yeah sure... 

The villa was perched over an impossibly pretty bay in the hills, with views across to Albania - a mere eight miles away; steeply terraced gardens filled with Bougainvillea and Lantana were by talented garden designer Julie Toll who coincidentally I've worked with before. Having also worked with Martin on other occasions, I knew the house would be equally breathtaking and so it proved to be - the only problem being how to capture it all in the allotted time. Fortunately, as we had a full team on hand from his London studio (similarly pleased to be on site), it worked out well.

The week ended with a trip to Corfu Town (Kérkyra) - a jewel of a place with its Byzantine and Venetian influences - watching a cricket match cold beer in hand in the large square, the Spianáda, as thousands of raucous swifts ricocheted above. Well, someone's gotta do it...

Interior images to follow ;-). Please do get in touch if you’d like me to travel far and wide for you (I’m off to Le Marches in Italy later this month for Appassionata Property… another tough gig I suspect ;-)

A Norfolk, London and York Photography extravaganza with Kelling and Martin Hulbert

I have just completed two weeks shooting for Kelling Designs, all across Norfolk and London. The work is colourful, elegant and interesting. And Norfolk is a beautiful county, and one that I would visit a whole lot more, if it wasn’t for the fact that, as a Devon based photographer, the journey takes a while! Here are some of the images, many thanks to all involved, especially the clients who were wonderfully generous with their houses and their time.

And just before that I shot some of Martin Hulbert Designs new work in York, at the No 1 York hotel… as ever, a sumptuously assured display..

Thanks so much for reading this and do keep in touch if you have interior or hotel photography requirements… It’s getting very busy but I can always find time for new projects! have a great week, Mark

Spring greens

Out in to the woods this morning… Wood Anemone, Greater Stitchwort, Wild Garlic and Wood Rush… feels lovely, and a break from the relentless bad news! nature can really heal…

Happy New Year!

Well, the weather has been appalling and we’ve all had a real year of it, but I’m looking forward to spring and hoping we can all slowly warm up and see some colour! Many thanks to all of you who I worked with me (let’s do some more!), and in the mean time, these images will remind you that in about 6 weeks time the ground will be warming up and spring bulbs will be emerging. There’s always new life, let’s look ahead and here’s to a better year. These images were all taken last year at The Garden House in Devon (a favourite haunt), and the feature below was take at the same place in late summer. Thanks for reading and have a great week, Mark

Hotel, Interior and Garden Photography 2021

Morning all, its cold cold cold here, so I have been looking back at a warmer summer of garden photography…I have begun a new project this year, shooting for a book about cottage gardens which will be published by Pimpernel Press in a couple of years time. I’m photographing some amazing and inspirational cottage gardens (large, small and in between!) and doing some ‘how-to’ images as well. Much of the work will take place in my own garden, so the muddy quagmire that is my new ‘patch’ will need to shape up rapidly!

Its not all about the great outdoors though, and as usual, there have been hotels to shoot, and some interiors to drool over! I shot Bowood House Hotel last week, where the head chef served up some goodies that just looked amazing (tasted great too)… Bowood has its own amazing garden, famous during the spring when Rhododendrons and Bluebells steal the scene.

Studio Goldy are a young design practice in London, and this work was in West London… clean, fresh and contemporary… watch out for great things from them…

I do hope you enjoy reading this, many thanks for your support this difficult year for all of us, and please do get in touch if you’d like to discuss photography in the coming months. I can send you sample images and am always happy to discuss rates and terms… until then, have a good week and thanks again. Mark

Hanham Court Gardens, a place I return to again and again… this is an autumnal shoot just finished and available as a feature set…

Hauser and Wirth, Menorca

Who needs Somerset?! Just came back from a trip to see the new Hauser and Wirth gallery/restaurant/gardens on the Isla Del Rei in Mahon, Menorca. Fantastic, beautifully done, understated and all rather picturesque. Menorca is all those things too, but the island proved to be an oasis of calm on a rather crazy ‘Fiesta’ bank holiday in the Balearics! This gallery and garden promises to be even more interesting as the project is finished and ‘grows in’. Take your chance now and go see it!

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The island was home to a military hospital (it even cared for soldiers of the Spanish Armada), and the buildings have been tastefully converted in to the art galleries. Mark Bradford was the artist displayed there for this first exhibition, and the grounds have been planted by the most famous garden designer in the world, Piet Oudolf

Summer madness

What a crazy, (not) lazy summer its been this yer. For the obvious reasons, I’ve been catching up on work, and whizzing around the country shooting hotels, gardens, interiors and people… Here is some of the lovely editorial work I have done (many thanks to the magazines for the way they have published them…. I am looking forward to a productive late summer and, dare I say it, autumn! here’s to misty mornings, cooler evenings and fab low angled light, which makes for a good looking image… oh, and some cider apple harvesting ;-)

thanks to VSP interiors, French Brooks Interiors, The Concrete House, and Ambrose Vevers

Work for 25 Beautiful Homes, originally published in Homes and Gardens

Shot for Country Life magazine, summer 2021

Grand Designs Magazine article, shot at the concrete house in Lewes, Sussex

Shot for Period Living magazine, Summer 2021

Many thanks for taking a look, and please do get in touch if you need photography. I am very happy to chat through your ideas, and can give you an upfront quote. I am off to the garden to build a seed bed… I am shooting a book for the wonderful Pimpernel Press… due out in a year or two, but watch this space…

Best Pub Interior?

Hidden on my website amongst all the fabulous interiors I shoot for magazines, designers, hotels and so on, is my favourite interior of all. Down at the bottom of Devon is the Pigs Nose Inn… Just look at that red snug! I shot my local a few years ago but it hasn’t really changed, and best of all it’s back open after this horrendous year. Thats the table where I drink my cider and eat all the crisps in the pub…

The Pigs Nose Inn

Fear not, I haven’t turned in to a red nosed cider-drinking, croc-wearing old git (or have I?), no, I have been working hard of late, shooting for a couple of hotels, and for some interior designers based in London. And also working on a new project about cottage gardens… images below.

I’m looking for beautiful cottage gardens to photograph, so if you know any, let me know…

Thanks to The Pigs Nose Inn, Kitesgrove Design and to Beth Tarling in deepest Cornwall..

Holcombe, Somerset, hotel and restaurant photography

I just spent a great couple of days photographing at the newly refurbished Holcombe Inn in Somerset. The emphasis is firmly on organic food, grown as locally as possible, served in a fabulous understated coaching inn, with interiors designed by the excellent Annabelle Holland Design (look at the colour palette!). Laid back, top quality and set in the rolling hills of North Somerset, it’s near to Bath and Bristol, and it’s even mentioned in the Domesday book! It reopens soon, and we took the opportunity to photograph it before the visitors flock in… We photographed the rooms, the food and the vegetable gardens.

Garden Photography with the Fuji X-T4

I am not a tech wizard (as my family will confirm!) but I thought I’d do a quick review of the Fuji X-T4 camera that I have recently acquired. I have had many other Fujis over the years, including the X-T1 and 2, so I know my way round them, and have found them to be excellent. I have had one or other of these cameras around my neck for a few years now, mostly whilst either travelling, or documenting my local patch ( a lot of the time in the pub!). I shoot gardens for magazines, and until now have used my Canon 5D4 with a range of lenses. However, at the start of this year I bought this camera and took it out to shoot a garden locally and have not put it down since. It’s fantastic for this sort of work…. it’s easy to carry a ‘full kit’ in my smallish Domke camera bag, and it is light weight. I can shoot handheld in quite low light… a revelation because I shoot on a tripod most of the time and that can be awkward and heavy at the best of times.

The images shot here are thanks to Mothecombe House in Devon.

Coincidently I recently bought a smaller Manfrotto carbon fibre tripod, so all in all my rather delicate back is thanking me at the moment! Back to the camera though…. one of the nice things about this model is that it has built in ‘Image Stabilisation’ which is great for those slightly lower shutter-speed ‘grab shots’… the daffodil above is an example. I can get right down to ground level and shoot upwards in to the flower without spending five minutes adjusting the tripod! Actually, another thing I find useful about this camera is the improved back screen. I generally use the viewfinder, which is an excellent digital ‘EVF’, but the screen is now fully articulated so its easy to angle your view from low down, looking upward, without cricking your neck!

The colours of final images, once processed through Lightroom software are beautiful. I use RAW files, but there are any number of JPEG ‘looks’ to choose from. The sensor is not full frame (it’s a 26MP APS-C sensor) but I really can’t see the difference in the files, and I find the colours, whilst different to the Canon, are great. The greens and blues appear to be perfect. And everything seems to ‘pop’… they are sharp and contrasty and very natural looking. Just look at the Japanese Quince image on the left beneath, the reds are amazing.

I have a range of different lenses, and believe me there’s a huge number of different lenses available. I only really use three or four, and am currently looking at the Fuji ‘red badge’ zoom lens, 16-55 to add to the bag. It is supposed to be the bees knees in terms of an all-rounder lens for this camera. The camera build quality is fabulous, it’s all metal and very solid, and the dials are lovely to use. They are real, dedicated single-purpose individually marked dials for each of shutter speed, ISO, exposure compensation, advance mode, STILL/MOVIE mode, as well as a dedicated autofocus mode switch and two more general purpose control dials. I’m not really going to talk about movie mode, but apparently the camera excels as a video camera too. It’s quite a traditional looking camera, and I am constantly amazed at the number of people who comment on it when I am carrying it around… not that that is important of course!

I would never have admitted it before, but I occasionally now use autofocus (what???!!!), and it is a revelation. It’s pin sharp results are easy to set up, and when shooting portraits it’s a god-send. I recently did a shoot for UK Country Living, and the children had to run through a field. The autofocus setting was easy to set up and gave perfect results. Who would have thought it? the camera can be set up to follow either the eyes, or a ‘head’… and it works beautifully. How many times in the past have I had to shoot 50 exposures to get one thats in focus? This may all be old news to some of you, but for a garden/interiors photographer used to manually focussing, it’s brilliant!

In conclusion, the camera has been a great addition to my kit. I won’t use it for interiors at the moment (for a start they don’t make a shift lens yet), but for garden shoots it’s staying! My back will be grateful, and I’m blown away with agility and ease of use of this camera. I have noticed that its very slightly bigger than the XT-2, which feels nice ‘in the hand’, and the battery life is MILES better. The only thing I can think of as a negative is the menu system, which is still rather complex… generally Fuji are excellent at making things intuitive, but the menus are a maze that sometimes feel impenetrable! Otherwise, it’s a big thumbs up from me.

Happy Christmas!

A bit early I know, but wow, what a year we have had… we all hope 2021 will be a bit better, let’s toast the end of this mess and hope for better things. Wishing you all some good rest and relaxation… and do try to enjoy yourselves, even if it seems difficult. Things, as they used to say, can only get better… cue the music! love to all, Mark

Cosy fireside Christmas greetings!

Hotel Photography for Swinton Park in Yorkshire

Winter hotel shoots can be challenging (short dark days for a start!) but we have just returned from a fabulous three day stay at Swinton Park hotel, photographing cosy firesides, the new spa, the deer in the parkland and scrumptious afternoon teas. The Hotel is set in 200 acres of parkland near Masham in Yorkshire, and surrounded by lakes and gardens. Guests have access to rivers, reservoirs, moorland, dales, and beautiful countryside bordering the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Glorious Swinton Park Hotel

Cosy winter warmth at the hotel

The billiard room is the perfect place to relax after a long day tramping through the countryside, and drinks by the fire are watched over by a well adorned local resident (!)

The grand dining rooms of Samuel’s restaurant

The spa is situated in a brand new building and has pools, sauna, treatment rooms, gym and beauty rooms. It sits beautifully in the landscape, with a lovely walled garden alongside and a luxurious ‘Terrace Bar’ just next door.

Chill out in the fabulously appointed new Spa at Swinton Park

New Hotel and Interior Photography, and beautiful Venice!

Hi all, I wrote this before the new lockdown was announced this weekend, but thought I’d send it anyway. I can still work, and am more than happy to discuss any hotel or interior photography. During this quiet time, it could be as good a time as any to update your imagery, and add to your library of images for social media or website. It’s a worrying time, but we will get through it, and maybe now is the time to get ready for what could be an interesting and booming 2021? here’s hoping! Stay safe everyone, and do keep in touch.

I have been as busy as ever and have recently been shooting in Italy, Norfolk, London and Somerset. Borgo Pignano was looking beautiful in the low autumnal sunshine and the team have spent a quiet 2020 working hard on the villas that are scattered amongst the trees in this glorious part of Tuscany. We spent two days doing some hotel photography for them. This special place is an organic estate with a fabulous 18th century building at its heart, and the accommodation is beautifully designed and delightfully relaxed. We shot four villas, interiors and exteriors, for use in marketing, social media and website.

Hotel Photography at Borgo Pignano in Tuscany, Italy

On returning from Italy I travelled up to Norfolk to shoot some interiors for the ever colourful and creative interior designers, Kelling Designs. Creake Abbey is a private house within glorious historic grounds that are open and under the care of English Heritage. A fun day in a warm family home..

Interiors in Norfolk for Kelling Design

Whilst in Italy, I nipped in to Venice. Under normal circumstances, the place is packed with tourists, and it can be difficult to concentrate on anything other than getting poked in the eye by someones umbrella! However, again because of the current situation, this time we were delighted to find an empty Piazza, and groups of locals who seem to have taken their city back! we were privileged to be there, the sun came out and I was able to add some beautiful images to my ‘prints’ page on the website. Take a look, they are professionally printed and delivered to your door, either framed or ‘print only’. A reminder of one of the great cities of the world, steeped in history but perilously to the sea…

Fine Art Prints available on the website, shot in Venice this month…

Thanks for reading this and the best of luck to you all. It’s a tough time, but 2021 will see a revival I think. Onwards and upwards! do email me if you’d like to discuss more, and visit the website to see more images and info. Ciao!

The importance of photography for interior designers

Everyone has a camera now.  It is estimated that ten percent of photographs ever taken were taken in the last year.  More photographs were taken in the last two minutes than in the whole of the 1800’s!  And approximately 140 billion photographs have been uploaded to facebook.  So, with this huge pool of imagery, it’s obviously important that if you want your business to stand out, you need to have decent photography done.

And as an interior designer, great photography is part of your brand.  You have a website, a social media presence and a portfolio of images that you would like to use in magazines and even books.  Those images need to really show off what you do.  It’s no use having a set of pictures that are wonky, badly processed and too small for printing in the best magazines.  You have put huge time and effort to design the space with beautiful furniture, fabulous colour schemes and thoughtful decisions made about height, light and texture.  You have done your side of things, now you need a photographer who can present that in the best light.

Why can’t you do it yourself with your (admittedly excellent) iPhone? An interior photographer has a proper set up of lenses and a camera that can record very high resolution.  The sensor on my camera can record a range of light levels, from they darkest corners to the brightest window highlights, and in post production I can blend images to create natural pictures that show the viewer just what the room looks like to the human eye.  So, the equipment is up to the mark.  What about the rest of the job? An experienced interior photographer will also know how to set up that fantastic camera and position it so that

1. the image is level.  Verticals are vertical (!) and the viewpoint is natural and doesn’t look too fake with overly wide angle distortion (what I call estate agents photography!)

2. The images are properly exposed.  Those high and lowlights need to be properly recorded so that in post production they can all be combined and blended seamlessly to create the perfect exposure.

3. Composition.  A beautifully designed room needs to be shown off.  It should be natural looking, ideally not ‘into a corner’, and it should show the main points of the rooms design… and combined with various ‘details or vignettes’ that compliment the main image the photographer can build up a true impression of your work.  

4. The images are sharp!  As mentioned earlier, the lenses of today are incredible, and a decent interior photographer can ensure that the lens is set up so that the image is sharp from front to back... or NOT!  Sometimes a little soft focus in the right places can look lovely, but a good practitioner should know when to use this technique.

5. Post production is key to a days photography.  It will take nearly as much time on the computer as on the actual shoot to create beautiful work, and a good interior photographer will be fully conversant with various software to ensure that unsightly blemishes are seamlessly removed, colours are correct and balanced, highlights are dealt with and lampshades straightened!

I have been shooting interiors for 25 years, working with every magazine and many of the best designers, hotels and developers.  I shoot with top end digital kit and am expert in photoshop and lightroom software.  I can style the shoots myself, or am very happy working with stylists or designers in creating beautiful images.  I will give you a quote for one day or many, ensuring that you know exactly how much the shoot is going to cost.

Please take a close look at my website and drop ask if you have any queries.  I am happy to send more images if you would like a closer look at what I can do.

with thanks to Kitesgrove, Mandarin Stone, Kelling Design, Sophie Peckett Design and Kitchenhaus for the wonderful shoots I was privileged to do!

Hotel Photography at the Grove Hotel in Hertfordshire

The Grove Hotel, Hertfordshire

I recently spent three busy days shooting at the Grove Hotel in Hertfordshire (hosts to the Ryder Cup and a very famous current American President!), with Martin Hulbert, interior designer extraordinaire, who has remodelled and designed most of the rooms over the years. The lounges and bar areas were magnificent, and we took time to shoot the conference facilities too. Slightly surreal as it turned out, as the current Covid crisis meant that the whole place was empty… made things easier for our work, but Im sure that now they have reopened, things are a lot busier there! I love the attention to detail in Martins work; the fabrics and wall coverings are all hand painted, the colours are beautifully restrained and furniture all hand picked, or designed and made.

I have also been shooting gardens galore… its high season and the planting is lovely, the days are long and I am making the most of it. I have done features for Country Life, Country Homes and Interiors and various other garden publications. Let me know if you are an editor looking to fill space next year! I have lots of options..

Garden Photography near Winchester

I have also set up and begun selling some of my prints. These are beautifully printed black and white images, of Italy, gardens around the world, corners of Devon, Venetian gondoliers and barrels of cider in atmospheric barns! … ideal for interior designers with walls to fill in hotels or houses… take a look at the page, I have even found a fabulous framer who can finish off the piece to perfection.

Wild flower verges at East Prawle

Wild flowers found at Coastguard Cottages in East Prawle

If you are interested in persuading councils to NOT mow your local roadsides, please do take a look at the Plantlife website and sign their petition!

Late last year, we decided not to mow the verges alongside our small private road where we live. In only our first year of no-mow its been a revelation. The number of wild flowers has increased, and there are plants there that I had never seen before. Usually, the verges of the road are strimmed every couple of weeks, and this process obviously means that many of the natural plants are unable to produce seed. The next stage will be to mow after the seeds have set, in late summer. The result of all this is that verges are brimming with flowers and insects, and (in my opinion) it looks fantastic! Here is a list of some of the species I recorded just this summer…

Bristly Ox Tongue

Field Poppy

Ribwort Plantain

Greater plantain

Curled Dock

Broad leaved dock

Heath Bedstraw

Common Mallow

Wild Carrot

Perennial Sowthistle

Fennel

Greater Knapweed

Yarrow

Rough Chervil

Cats Ear

Red and White Campion

Scarlet Periwinkle

Creeping Cinquefoil

Field Bindweed

Herb Robert

Broomrape

Hairy Tare

Hedge Woundwort

Hedge Mustard

Nipplewort

Red and White Clover

Dandelion

Field Daisy

Birds Foot Trefoil

Small Flowered Cranesbill

Common Vetch

Hop Trefoil

Meadow vetchling 

Trailing tormentil 

Fleabane

Common mint

Common ragwort

Greater willowherb 

Hawkbeard 

Pineapple weed

Great mullein

Field scabious

Yellow rattle 

Hogweed

Spear thistle

Hemp agrimony

Agrimony

Common bent (grass)

Yorkshire fog (grass)

Ox-eye daisy

False oat grass (grass)

A Walk down Newhouse Lane

Newhouses, Ivy, Post Box, Herb Robert, Poppy, Barley, Sign, Tithe Barn. 2nd July 2020, 7.30am.