Transcript
Jennifer Gulizia: Welcome back to another episode of the Backyard Bouquet podcast. Today we are recording this episode in the fall. And if you ask me, it's my favorite time of the year to photograph our gardens.
Jennifer Gulizia: The light sits lower and softer in the sky. The leaves are starting to turn. And almost everything has that warm, golden feeling that only lasts for a few short weeks before the frost comes. So I couldn't think of a better time to sit down with today's guest.
Jennifer Gulizia: His name is Jason Ingram, and he's a garden photographer based in Bristol, England. And for decades, Jason has been photographing gardens. plants. food, and people for magazines and books.
Jennifer Gulizia: And he does nearly all of it with natural light, which means he is often out in the garden long before the rest of us are awake. You may already know his work without realizing it. If you have a copy of the cut flower patch by Louise Curley on your bookshelf, those are Jason's photographs. And last year, he published a book of his own, How to Photograph Gardens, written for anyone who wants to take better pictures of what they grow, whether that's with a professional camera. or the phone in your pocket.
Jennifer Gulizia: Jason. I'm so excited to have you today. Welcome to the Backyard Bouquet podcast.
Jason Ingram: of Thank you very much for having me on. I'm really delighted to be here so and and to speak to you. So this is lovely. Thank you.
Jennifer Gulizia: I love it. I was taking my dogs for a walk before we hopped on and I was just. Taking in the colors right now of the fall. And thinking back to how I used to be a photographer and thinking, gosh, I need to get back out in my garden.
Jennifer Gulizia: and take some pictures.
Jason Ingram: Yes, you must. It is a very good time of the year, isn't it? You said fall is without doubt. it' It's my favourite. I think most photographers find that... between September and November is.
Jason Ingram: is easily the best time of the year for shooting. Because we've had ah we've had months of very, very early starts.
Jennifer Gulizia: Absolutely.
Jason Ingram: and the light's soft and we have really good mists. it And the cooling off is just absolutely lovely. I really enjoy this time of the year.
Jennifer Gulizia: Absolutely. Well, take us back to the beginning before we get started. How did you get into photography in the first place?
Jason Ingram: Gosh, that's ah that's a very, it goes, it stems back a very long time because. It sort of happened without me even realizing. It was the 1970s. I was absolutely fixated and mesmerized by a particular filmmaker called Jacques Cousteau. And he had a...
Jason Ingram: wonderful program that I used to watch. i i glued to the telly when this was on. It was called The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. And it was the first time...
Jason Ingram: At a very young age something connected inside me And. From that day on I knew whatever it was I was going to do with my career, bearing in mind I was only seven years old, it was going to involve making pictures.
Jason Ingram: My parents actually thought that I'd end up going down the route of being a filmmaker. And I was always fascinated with the undersea world.
Jennifer Gulizia: oh
Jason Ingram: So, of course, they assumed I'd be an undersea, ah underwater filmmaker. But, of course, I'm not. I'm very much on dry land. But that's where it all started. so from from from going through school.
Jason Ingram: I went to art college. I studied photography. So I never really had any. uh there was no discussion it was I've been very very clear all the way through that I wanted to to make pictures and it it became very It. through going to art college i realized very quickly also that I work very well on my own. Of course, I work with teams now. I work with authors. But actually, the actual the the actual physical...
Jason Ingram: part of making an image I felt I wanted more control over. and hence i went down the the route of photography so i studied at salisbury college of art And I graduated from there in 1992.
Jason Ingram: And then I did the... At the time I did the usual route of assisting. i i Actually, I did do something quite significant before I went down the route of assisting.
Jason Ingram: I did a trip to the northwest territories of Canada. with a fellow... photographer who I'd met previously and we did a trip right up into the north so I had that moment where I experienced. proper cold realizing that it was probably something I wouldn't ever do.
Jason Ingram: again but it was was great to experience it so i had a year in canada mainly in Montreal. Came back, I... did the assisting role.
Jason Ingram: and which I did for about a program between about seven years in total, actually. And then I slowly made my way into my career as a... photographer firstly and then it's been a garden photographer a photographer of gardens and plants So...
Jason Ingram: over the last 20 years really.
Jennifer Gulizia: That's amazing. I love that you started out. being interested in the water. I started out as a sports photography. Uh, or started out in sports photography, doing water sports photography.
Jason Ingram: Yes.
Jennifer Gulizia: Always wanted to be a landscape photographer. And. I don't think I ever developed the eye for it. So I'm curious, how did you fall into? landscape and particularly garden photography.
Jason Ingram: Yeah, that that's a very good question because, of course... it's something that is obviously connected but at the time I had no idea there was such a thing as a garden photographer so when on my during my studies at art college. I was. constantly being held in the studio by my tutors.
Jason Ingram: because I had to. obtain a certain level of understanding of technical equipment, lighting, because of course the... the The course that I did was very practical. It actually prepared me for a world. a world of commercial advertising and editorial photography so I needed to do a fair amount of that but at the same time at any opportunity For. doing modules i would be outside of the studio so i'd i'd
Jason Ingram: obtain the the cameras from the stores. head off into the the mountains. uh normally mid wales which because i studied in salisbury so it's not and it's not so far and i started doing landscapes and landscapes was really where I suppose my...
Jason Ingram: My love for photography. blossomed and i became really absorbed with natural light because that's one of the things that is unique to My photography.
Jason Ingram: is that i only work with natural lights i mean occasionally i have scenarios where i might need to to to light something in a a slightly different scenario but as a rule i am a natural light photographer so of course by seeing the wider landscape you very very quickly work out how the light falls how to read the light And becoming a garden photographer was one of those things I fell into via the National Trust.
Jason Ingram: So when I... When I first started working... in the world of commercial photography. I actually worked for a postcard company. initially which gave me the opportunity to travel around the whole of the UK.
Jason Ingram: and photograph. honeypot locations for for print for Postcards. course back then we all used to send so many postcards and occasionally would be calendars as well and through doing that I...
Jason Ingram: I realised that... It was a fairly limited... Creep. career to... retains shooting landscapes and I thought to myself that Uh, I needed to start to get my subject matter in place because one of the things that...
Jason Ingram: I realised with garden photography is the big thing I need is a garden to photograph. and that sounds like a stupid thing but actually one of the hardest things when you're first starting out because you think well i want to photograph gardens but of course i need gardens so i need a source of gardens so of course that's when I approached the National Trust.
Jennifer Gulizia: Sure.
Jason Ingram: and the National Trusts are certified. i would shoot as an agency photographer for them so everything that i produced from their properties would go into their libraries and then they would Cell. the images and i'd get a ah cut of every image sold so i thought this is great this open the doors to amazing gardens places like Sissinghurst Uh, out of hours so i could be there at four o 'clock in the morning i could be there at ten o 'clock in the evening and it just opened my
Jason Ingram: eyes to something that i thought wow this is this is something else this is all my love of photography nature all rolling into the same thing. And I realized that if I persevered with this, this could be, a you know, this. could be the way my my career would go so of course I just started sending out more and more material to magazines. and constantly knocking on the doors of of of of publishing houses to see if i could actually
Jason Ingram: ah get some commissions of course it's very hard when you first start out because they have their bank of photographers. established photographers so i'm this new yeah young person at the time coming through
Jennifer Gulizia: Sure.
Jason Ingram: with a fresh book for them to look at. so I... initially started shooting guns on spec specatively so rather than actually expecting i would get any commissions from these magazines i thought the best thing to do would give them something that was completely irresistible that they could not take because I've done all the work for them.
Jason Ingram: I've sourced a garden. I've gone. gone there at the best in the best light. I photographed it and I've laid it down onto a ah light box because it was filmed at the time and said, here you go. I've shot this. Are you interested?
Jason Ingram: And that. Sort of worked. with gardens illustrated initially. which was a very long time ago now um and then of course things start to push.
Jason Ingram: forward more and more i started to get more and more commissions then i started to work for magazines like bbc gardener's world as well And for that, my work. takes me down a slightly different route because I'm doing projects with gardeners, with authors. And then obviously now I shoot.
Jason Ingram: Loads of books as well. So. hence you were saying about the cut flower patch which we actually did a very long time ago I mean I don't even know what year that was with Louise Curley. It was quite some time ago now, that book.
Jason Ingram: And when it we first shot that book. it was seen as the I shot many books afterwards and the publishers would always say to me, sometimes not always knowing that I'd shot that book.
Jason Ingram: this is what we're looking to do something similar to this Because I think it was... really at the forefront of of how... cut flowers were certainly in this country.
Jason Ingram: And people started to to grow their own. and designating plots of allotments that kind of stuff so yeah so that that that's and that's how that's how my careers sort of rolled out to where i am today really so i now work to to commission almost entirely. i occasionally.
Jason Ingram: shoot on spec if it's with a designer but usually I photograph for the designer and then we may offer those. uh gardens to magazines afterwards but as i said most of the work comes in to me. as as commissions.
Jason Ingram: along with the books.
Jennifer Gulizia: okay um
Jason Ingram: That's great.
Jennifer Gulizia: Amazing. What a fun career and journey you have had.
Jason Ingram: Mmm.
Jennifer Gulizia: You mentioned... natural light. and learning to pay attention to the lighting in the gardens. can you help my audience a lot of my audience is flower farmers backyard gardeners Pretty much everyone listening grows flowers.
Jason Ingram: Yes.
Jennifer Gulizia: What are things that you look for when you're photographing a garden full of flowers? And how do you use natural light to highlight that?
Jason Ingram: Well, I think the the first and foremost. Always with... anything outside is to give yourself a fighting chance and be out.
Jason Ingram: when the light's at its best. So I know that flower farmers tend to cut in the mornings, don't they? mean It's is is what you do.
Jennifer Gulizia: Yes.
Jason Ingram: which is great because initially The first thing is you are there. You are there at the right time. Just give yourself time. designated time for photographing as well as cutting the flowers because morning light I'm often asked, do I prefer morning to evening? light i but i love I love the light at both ends of the day. It's the only time I will shoot.
Jason Ingram: a garden it's the only time i will shoot Um, i mean obviously i i do shoot during the day as well but certainly for those sort of opening shots for magazines and for beautiful plant combinations cut flowers in the garden that kind of stuff always shoot early in the morning or late in the evening but because A lot of your listeners will already be out in the garden first thing in the morning.
Jason Ingram: Just give yourself the time to photograph. rather than... rather than just fitting it in, I always think that it's it's really, really valuable to actually allow yourself time.
Jason Ingram: to... to really think about the photographs you're taking and i would almost say religiously to always look at backlighting your subject.
Jason Ingram: So... and um when i say backlighting i don't mean always shooting directly into the sun although i do that a lot but it's quite hard to manage. make sure i mean i have a i have a rule that's that. works around the the clock a clock face basically so 10 to the hour and 10 past the hour that's where you want the sun to be coming in from you don't want the sun behind you unless it's extremely extremely soft And then with...
Jason Ingram: a very very sort of milky haze i would say always get the light coming in from the side. but slightly from the back, because what you'll find is that all the details in in the petals, of the flower, the structure, the stems, will all have this slight... rim light to it. which will stand them out against each other.
Jason Ingram: The other thing is if the... if you have if the light is really really strong um I do for shooting flowers I do use some sort of softening material some sort of diffusion that can be something like i mean i use designated scrims which are Um,
Jason Ingram: Big. big diffusers that go on poles but if you're in a garden you could be it could be as simple as just throwing a piece of horticultural fleece up. just to soften the line. But as I said, I always prefer. to work with how the light is at that time and as i said if it's early in the morning you're going to get that kind of soft light anyway. But I just think you just need to look.
Jason Ingram: Look more than take, if that makes sense. if it reads well to your eye when you're looking at it it will read well to the camera if If you can't... if something looks starts to look confusing to your eye and you put the camera up to it It's not going to. going to change It's going to look the same.
Jason Ingram: and so so what you really need to do is always think about how that plant is. against the back it's backdrop So, mean for instance, with...
Jason Ingram: with stuff like... with Louise Curley's book. cut flower patch we obviously when we were shooting flowers we obviously had little um natural daylight studio setups where you can use plain or textured backdrops which obviously allow the plants to really stand out but if they're actually in the garden then you need to really consider the backdrop as much as the plant itself that you're focusing on The other thing is if you are
Jason Ingram: I'm. presuming that quite a lot of people will use phones. to be taking the picture. um
Jennifer Gulizia: Absolutely.
Jason Ingram: Yeah, and I can see it. if you If you don't use a phone and you use a camera... then you need to. really be thinking about. Things like. F stops. apertures because one of the things that's really essential is that when you pick your focus point on the flower that you don't have everything in the background as sharp as it is on the flower you want to soften that effect now if you have a ah ah phone
Jason Ingram: unfortunately a phone struggles to do that Although I think there is a portrait mode now, certainly on iPhones that you can use, which will just pick your focus point and width. Uh, the intelligence of the phone it will soften the background but i always think and and And I think it's absolutely crucial.
Jason Ingram: that. you really need to think about the backdrop as much as the plant itself because that will be the back the backdrop will define how well the plant itself reads.
Jason Ingram: Um, So, yeah, so backlighting. or You tend... 10 past the hour. and then making sure your backdrop is as clean as it can be no because so for instance apache dahlias is a classic example or you you know you might see one perfect bloom.
Jennifer Gulizia: Yes.
Jason Ingram: But then in the background, you see all these stems. Coming in. and they're crisscrossing and doing all sorts of something going across here coming across here just really look at it and see where you think that. backdrop will work really clearly for the for the plant so that And, of course, early morning.
Jason Ingram: That's the other thing. and And also... once you're once you've shot it in the garden it might also be wise to i mean i i work with lots of cut flower farmers and quite often what they do is they don't take the pictures out in the field so much they take a picture of bucket flowers or they take a picture of a couple of stems so they do they have a designated spot in their farm.
Jason Ingram: where they just literally shoot their plants. so once i've once i've picked all their flowers they'd bring them over to a table with maybe something like a ah a warm brown or a gray wall or something that's really really textured but very very soft and before they take the plants off Um,
Jason Ingram: to... to get. prepared they will just stick the bucket on this particular table and photograph it because they know that's going to work really well for for the all the plants will read really really well So.
Jason Ingram: So I think it's a case of just giving yourself some time. and allowing... time to do that because i think it's really important isn't it because of course they're they're they're only there for a while and once you cut them they're gone so and as a cut flower farm it's really important to have that record of your of your work
Jennifer Gulizia: Absolutely. Well, especially going into the winter. if if for Farmers like Dahlia Farmers who are selling their tubers. It's really hard to tell someone what you're selling without a picture.
Jennifer Gulizia: And it's also great in the wintertime to just kind of plan out your garden and look back and know. This is what I want. Or you mentioned calendars earlier. I think a lot of flower farms will sell calendars of their farm.
Jason Ingram: Yes.
Jason Ingram: Right. Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: And so. I love what you said about the net. So your natural light just re kind of capping. what we talked about naturally, you said 10 o 'clock. So. There's kind of the 10 o 'clock at night on the clock and then like.
Jennifer Gulizia: two. So kind of like 10 and two.
Jason Ingram: Is that clear? Yeah, yeah Thank you.
Jennifer Gulizia: when you're driving.
Jason Ingram: if you yeah exactly that that's what we used to tell wasn't it 10 to 2. Driving. Yes. If you imagine the the long hand on the clock, either being at 10 to the hour, 10 past the hour. So you you get that sort of. angle coming in so it's it's sort of from the side but it's actually slightly backlit.
Jason Ingram: Because backlighting.
Jennifer Gulizia: Got it.
Jason Ingram: is essential. Uh,
Jennifer Gulizia: Yes.
Jason Ingram: everything if you ever if you ever nerd out on watching lighting on films which i often do you will always realize that everyone's always backlit it's just one of the everything looks better backlit because of course the shadows are all working and in the in the correct way for you.
Jason Ingram: uh because that's one of the things you don't want you don't want shadows going into the subject so it's the same as a person's face I mean, I know there's all sorts of different styles of lighting that people, of artists have used over the over the years, like the butterfly.
Jason Ingram: lighting and Rembrandt lighting but i think I think with with plants you're trying to YouTube. that i mean that's how i see my job i'm recording something but i'm also recording it in the most beautiful way i can Um,
Jason Ingram: But I always think that. looking and seeing is... is almost everything when i do courses one of the first things i always do is I like people to walk the garden without a camera.
Jason Ingram: And I often say I often.
Jennifer Gulizia: oh
Jason Ingram: Show people. I say, so who thinks that? area looks better or who thinks that area looks better and one will obviously have the light coming onto the garden and one will have the light coming on backlit onto the garden so the light's hitting the the border of plants on one side and on the other side it's it's backlighting the border and it's a cross -section but it's it's normally 50 -50 of the people that will actually say I prefer
Jason Ingram: because we're all so used to it it's a bit like walking through a garden at midday and it's very very sunny big blue sky you see all these great great colors And you think. gosh that looks great and it does look great to your eye and it feels great and everything else but it's not going to be a great picture there's no way that will ever work as a photograph so it's a combination of looking seeing and training your eye a bit and i but i think that cup flower grows tend to have.
Jason Ingram: They have very good eyes as a rule. They're very tuned in visually. I mean, i don't I don't really know a cut flower farmer who doesn't have...
Jennifer Gulizia: Yes.
Jason Ingram: really really good visuals in on their social media platforms on their websites everyone realizes the importance of good photography we are now in an era where we are completely utterly...
Jason Ingram: image savvy we are we are digesting more and more pitches now on a daily basis than we've ever ever had have done before but i think it's that thing of You are expected to do something now with your photography. It definitely needs to be of of a standard.
Jason Ingram: um And it's just training your eye to know why something looks good. Because sometimes we don't know. We just know it looks good. but then it's it's sometimes it's just it's a bit like looking at a vase of flowers
Jennifer Gulizia: Right.
Jason Ingram: i mean for a for a trained eye people will i mean i can look at a vase of flowers no nose I can know whether it looks good to my eye or not. I maybe not from a point of actually putting them together, but I just know.
Jason Ingram: visually whether it's going to work because it's all about shapes and how those shapes work together and that's exactly what a cut flower farm is doing as well but it's a combination of putting a bit of that skill that they have into the the photography as well and then suddenly It all comes together and all makes sense.
Jennifer Gulizia: For someone listening who maybe doesn't know how to read a photo or a scene like you. So going back to the example you mentioned, like midday, can you help someone understand why does midday?
Jason Ingram: Yes.
Jennifer Gulizia: not work well. for photos.
Jason Ingram: midday they They're asked midday on a very on a very cloudy or ah a light cloudy midday. Day? is fine. you you You need some kind of softening.
Jason Ingram: of the light but if you're talking about a blue sky day the sun's up very very high in the sky it's beating down on your subject the shadows. are almost black The highlights.
Jason Ingram: so if you've got things like white flowers in the garden the highlights are just going to completely utterly blow And it's very, very... cool lights so number one it's cold light number two Very, very hard shadows.
Jason Ingram: very, very strong highlights. and Our eyes. And our brains... Will. fill all that detail in. we have a huge high dynamic range and cameras work on a dynamic range but they're quite limited compared to what our eyes are seeing. And I know that occasionally...
Jason Ingram: I will struggle to to try and match what... a camera phone can do. because the camera phone is working in a very different way. And sometimes they they photograph it.
Jennifer Gulizia: Sure.
Jason Ingram: People in my courses will photograph and say, well, look at that. That's incredible. And I said, yes, it is. It's done ah it's it's done a a false. interpretation of the scene but it has giving you all the details you want but for for a camera you're just not going to see all that it will become very very contrasty so And the light is just very cold. it's very But then saying that there are certain scenarios where you can get away with midday sun.
Jason Ingram: one particular plant that can cope with it a little bit better as a tulip which is a classic scenario because the Because that's... they can be very very colorful very very colorful and quite dense in the in the actual petal so if if as long as the light's coming slightly from behind in your back lighting still you can you can just about get away with it but even even then again if you have to take a picture and it is midday sun still backlight it.
Jason Ingram: don't Don't be fooled by thinking that having the sun on the subject matter is going to to ah to be any different to early early in the morning. It's still a case of making sure that light's coming in from the same. from the same angle But those are the sort of main reasons why midday sun's not very good.
Jennifer Gulizia: Thank you for clarifying that.
Jason Ingram: Hmm.
Jennifer Gulizia: and For those that are tuning in from you or watching this on YouTube, your backdrop wall. It's very clear for me. That you have. li all Those are all backlit images.
Jennifer Gulizia: And I think there's some great examples. right there where you can just see the sun shining in.
Jason Ingram: Yes, yes, yeah, they are. I mean, even that. there's I can't think what that that is. hepatica i think the pink flower Uh, on the. top yeah to top there yeah every everything's everything's backlit um that's almost what i'm entirely looking for i mean in fact i have to have a specific garden i i've shot in many times for with Piet Oudolf.
Jason Ingram: at Hauser & Wirth in Somerset And the garden. the sun sets at one end and it it rises the other end. And... quite often the housing worth the gallery have often wondered why i only ever shoot in one direction because i literally i will go in the morning and i will only ever shoot up
Jason Ingram: the garden up into the garden and in the evening i would shoot down into the garden because of course i want i want that sun to be in the right position again occasionally what i will do because another thing not to be
Jennifer Gulizia: uh -huh
Jason Ingram: Not to ignore is this. 10. 20 sometimes half an hour after the sun set Some people in photography call it the blue hour. because obviously the sun set.
Jason Ingram: and you're starting to get that glow You get the same thing in the morning pre -sunrise. But you have a moment where you've still got this incredible... softness to the light.
Jason Ingram: Where? the the the sky the sun's gone so it's just reflecting still the light's reflecting So you have this wonderful moment for about half an hour after the sun's actually set.
Jason Ingram: where... it can still produce some incredible pictures because you've got... it's it's in photography we call it modeling and it just means that And I quite often do it.
Jason Ingram: if I'm struggling to work out. on for instance something like ah a softer day where there's quite a lot of cloud cover or again when blue hour is a bit easier to read because of course you know where the sun's set but if it's on a softer day and you're wondering where the light's really coming from i would just put my hand in front of the flower.
Jason Ingram: and look at how the light is actually on my hand because it will tell you very quickly. where the light's coming from and that's called modeling so i'm just I'm just kind of seeing.
Jason Ingram: and and and kind of working out how the lights... falling on my subject and how it's wrapping around it and how the shadows are working because Quite a lot of the time, I'm not.
Jason Ingram: thinking about actually the the light on the subject matter i'm also thinking about how much shadow there is because often you need to have a bit of shadow to again create that modeling in fact in my book as photograph gardens one I've designated.
Jason Ingram: a whole page to the subject of an egg. And I photographed an egg, a basket of eggs. In. four or five different types of lighting so you can really start to see the effects in direct lighting diffused lighting backlighting And it's ah it's a fascinating thing. It's it's something that I did.
Jason Ingram: at art college where we all get to photograph an egg which seems a very dull subject but of course like it's quite a similar thing to to to a flower in lots of ways the way it the light falls off it and and and wraps around it so it's a really really good way of um trying to work out how to to light something and when i say light something allow the natural daylight to do its thing.
Jennifer Gulizia: I love that. i I don't know that everyone realizes how much thought actually has to go into. the natural lighting. It's not like you just come out and you'd snap a picture.
Jason Ingram: No.
Jennifer Gulizia: Your eye is trained to think where is the light coming from?
Jason Ingram: No.
Jennifer Gulizia: So everyone's learned the 10 and two.
Jason Ingram: Yes.
Jennifer Gulizia: And then you're also, how do you think about where your subject goes in the frame?
Jason Ingram: Yes.
Jason Ingram: Well that. I mean that. I mean if we're talking ah there's all sorts of i mean from for so i'll start with the garden view for a garden view
Jennifer Gulizia: Yes.
Jason Ingram: And again, for some of your YouTube. viewers that may see some of this you have classic there's a classic. sort of foreground interests, leading lines. s shapes so what what we do as photographers we're always looking for compositional aids if you like things that will take your eye into the picture But as well as the hard structure.
Jason Ingram: of say for instance a path that leads away or a path that goes through a meadow that has a bit of an s shape in it which you might use to to compose around or you might have topiary in a picture for a more of a formal garden i mean formal gardens are without doubt
Jason Ingram: probably the easiest gardens to photograph because a lot of the design is as has happened it's happened on paper it's been designed and they've been the the designer or the landscape architect has laid the garden out in particular viewpoints for and you can't ignore those with something more naturalistic like i some of the shots that you'll see there
Jason Ingram: in the back or stuff I've done with Pete Aldoff. and tom stewart smith they're working in a far more like naturalistic way and in a Very clever way, really, because I know with Pete.
Jason Ingram: he will be looking at. The. plant that's beyond the plant. So he's not just thinking about... that's a clump of echinacea that's a clump of rudbeckia he will be thinking right what am i going to mix that with so that when i'm walking through this garden or when a person's walking through the garden How?
Jason Ingram: how are those plants going to work together? Because they're thinking about. the the the plant. the plant that will act as the backdrop to the next plant to the next plant so he uses things like uh Sporobolus is one a grass that will often knit its way through all these amazing cone heads and spikes and different shaped plants because that's what That's what we're looking at.
Jason Ingram: a lot of the time and and i think we cut flowers it's the same that plants are grown. for a vase or for a bouquet. for their shape and their colour and their texture and their tones.
Jason Ingram: So... that that becomes a very, very important thing of how those those all work together. um so So I think... i think working on composing. and where you...
Jason Ingram: position Uh, Plants. in a frame or a single stem. you could say, well... i mean i tend to work on there's a thing called the rule of thirds so if you're struggling with your composition because the plant feels very static you might just position yourself so that you'll give some negative space.
Jason Ingram: to the plant so move the camera to the left so that the the the plant might take up just a third on the left hand side and two thirds of the right hand side of the picture could be just floaty floaty out of focus areas of the image or if you're shooting of ours I mean I know that there's lots of great cut flower farmers growers that will do very very um asymmetric vases and and really extreme
Jason Ingram: shapes. of of plants and and lots of kind of gnarly twisty bits and of course they're doing that to have that slightly unsettling composition as well where maybe the vase gets really put put over to the left hand side but then the something in the top of the vase will really come over and grab the attention background but then you're sort of left with quite a ah lot of areas.
Jason Ingram: in Underneath that. that might be quite blank or or you know bare space negative space or if you're working with two or three things together so if you're doing something like bud vases then you again it it comes down to reading the scenario you've got different heights and partss will will be So when when you're composing, just make sure that...
Jennifer Gulizia: mm -hmm
Jason Ingram: a bit a bit like if you're composing a group of people you wouldn't have for people. Stand 1. one person standing in front of another person standing in front of another person so in effect you're having two people in the back and then two people in the front standing in front of two people in the back don't do the same with ah a vase of flowers or a grouping of flowers think about how you stagger them together so you're giving space to each.
Jason Ingram: Plum. so you can read the plant behind. so again it's is it's back to looking but i think that the thing with composing is you know playing around with it but making sure also that everything has the room to breathe.
Jason Ingram: even with wider landscapes. and And I quite often find that... um you know i i i know the rules i've been taught the rules but once you know all these things you can then quite often.
Jason Ingram: think about how do you break them. But I always find it's... it it's you you question it and sometimes you think oh gosh is that going to work I don't really know is that going to work by just putting a but ah giving a lot of space to something you would think well i just want to fill the frame with it but actually try it because sometimes... It will surprise you. And then when you sit with it, you go back to it, you think, gosh, that you know that image really worked for me.
Jason Ingram: So I think it's there's no hard, fast rules about where... to place things in a frame but i just think just think about The... the Composition. And I say this.
Jason Ingram: and I say it in my book and I say it a lot, composition is ah as much about what you leave out as it is. what you've actually put into your frame in effect you are restricted.
Jason Ingram: in your composition. you're not restricted as a cut flower grower because you can do you can extend what it is you're doing. in a big wide open space or in a in a contained vase but when you put a phone or a camera.
Jason Ingram: to that. composition that you've made you are then restricted to something that's rectangular square there's no there's no other way around it. It's like an artist. An artist wants to paint a view. The view might be huge. But somehow that artist has to fit everything into that one.
Jason Ingram: frame of the canvas. So that's what you do as a photographer. you're doing exactly the same thing. so sometimes if you get really confused about something as And and I often get.
Jason Ingram: picked up on this i i see i see the world in lots of different shapes i'm constantly looking at shapes so of course It's the same thing, and I'm sure. cut flowers will grows will definitely do this they see shapes and how shapes work together and once you see how that works then it's like putting a jigsaw puzzle together your composition starts to work so i think it's it's it's all those elements working together to really
Jason Ingram: I think your audience already has a huge head start though. because they're very very huge head start so um you know you're doing
Jennifer Gulizia: Absolutely.
Jason Ingram: you're You're growing. something that is already working. very in in a compositional way anyway so i just think it's a case of translating that to that square that rectangle
Jennifer Gulizia: 100%.
Jason Ingram: Hmm.
Jennifer Gulizia: And I think that this time of year also. a lot of photographers. should be thinking about as they're taking these pictures when you mentioned negative space. that negative space can play in really well for websites or advertising.
Jason Ingram: Oh yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: as they're building out the website.
Jason Ingram: Yeah, yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: Because if your photo, if the flower or your farm takes up the whole image and there's no negative space, it's harder whether they're designing their own website or they have a web designer.
Jason Ingram: Yeah.
Jason Ingram: Yes. Yeah, that that that's this this crucial as well. And and I often, for for lots of clients I work with, certainly with... uh magazine clients they they If they can, they always like to have.
Jason Ingram: every composition. that i take ideally shot both in portrait format as well as landscape and of course that brings me on to social media and of course we're all at the mercy of what that that that dictates us a lot of the time so i mean suddenly we went from square to portrait 916 format.
Jason Ingram: so it's and that could change again it could just it could change to a landscape so so i think
Jennifer Gulizia: mm -hmm
Jason Ingram: to safeguard yourself. and feature. proof yourself as well i always think if anything can fit into a square you're doing okay because a square is a such a it's a fine composition and you can do it will fit any page it will fit you you can still use the square on social media i mean you can use a landscape we call of course it but ends up becoming very small less you you ask people to to to move their phones but often that's a bit too much
Jason Ingram: to ask because people just don't want to do that so i always think that It's always worth. trying to shoot a portrait and a landscape of of of anything you do even if it means cropping in more to get the landscape from what seems an obvious portrait i mean i photograph plants occasionally things like eremurus foxtail lilies huge long things delphiniums i mean how can you make landscapes from those kind of plants because they're so tall
Jason Ingram: But of course, you just pull back more, just pull back more. and give it give it more space as you said because you'll always find that there'll be a time where you're thinking i just need something for a banner across the top of my website. And you think, ah, God, yes, I do. I have that del that clump of delphiniums I shot us with all that negative space.
Jason Ingram: And that becomes very, very valuable, doesn't it?
Jennifer Gulizia: I love that thank you for that. I think this will be really helpful for people as they're hopefully wrap starting to wrap up their seasons and plan for the slower season. i mean farmers work four seasons a year, but...
Jason Ingram: Yes, of course
Jennifer Gulizia: um Often a lot of it comes inside as the weather changes.
Jason Ingram: Yes.
Jennifer Gulizia: I'm curious. Is there a favorite season of yours to photograph?
Jason Ingram: Yeah, I'd say now. Without a doubt. um i'm i'm i'm sort of I'm... if you like match fit from the summer. So I've been working. My season, I'd say, I mean, I shoot all year, but my season.
Jason Ingram: starts. in Yeah. in hyperdrive, I'd say, from Chelsea Flower Show. A little bit before, but Chelsea Flower Show is really the starting point. And it's it's literally non -stop then, all the way through summer. up until it's still very busy now but of course now what's happening is we're just...
Jason Ingram: we're having we can rest a bit more within our days because Any garden photographer will... will We'll say the same. Yeah. when you're shooting.
Jason Ingram: and starting to work. All right. Half four in the morning. and you potentially you've left home at two o 'clock in the morning then you you can rest up a bit during the day and then you do do the same thing in the evening when you've been doing that for months and months and months.
Jason Ingram: it it gets very very you know it's ah it's basically it's very hard work to do And I think. By the time... or or Autumn for... has the same it's ah It's time for everything think and everyone.
Jason Ingram: to start to just... slow down a bit the light slows down, the growing in the garden slows down. it's It's soft. It's... Yeah.
Jason Ingram: I can... I can start work at sunrise at 7 .30. as opposed to 430. I can be shooting sunset at five o 'clock in the evening i think there's this magical window which we're just we're just entering into now really where you've got that sort of September into October.
Jason Ingram: And then the very, very first part of November, just wonderful. um And... everything comes together and you can just really You just feel that your work. can be
Jason Ingram: you can take a bit more time over it. and you can enjoy it a bit more not saying i don't enjoy it in the summer because i do because of course as gardens over this summer is such a crucial part to to our work but it is particularly beautiful this time i mean the the light all the colors the backdrops for everything you get you get more mist now than any other time in the year really lovely fogs so it's a it's a great time so i'd probably say if i had to pick one month
Jason Ingram: I'd need to pick a little bit of September and October. Cross the last two weeks in September, two weeks and in October. So I've got lots of... sort of great shoots planned now for the next couple of weeks But, of course, we're... We we are.
Jason Ingram: reliant on the weather as well so that that's that's the downside to this time of the year because obviously The weather doesn't always. have the same idea and we are completely at the mercy of the weather so
Jennifer Gulizia: Absolutely. Can you ever use? a rainy day to your advantage to capture moody photos?
Jason Ingram: Yeah, you can. I mean, put on a personal level, very much so. But on a on a commercial level, less so. I mean, unless, of course, we're doing. Sometimes we have scenarios where we have to we have to lean into it, the publisher will say. it's like If it's a book... that will be absolutely fine because a book will often be shot over a period of 12 months and we'll be shooting once a month.
Jason Ingram: ah for for the duration of that year. So of course... To do a gardening book would be unrealistic. to not have a sense of weather.
Jason Ingram: Because you obviously getting get a sense of seasonality. But we know certainly in the UK, we have a lot of rain. Uh, So to to think that you could do an entire book and not have anything that relates to the rain would would be unrealistic. So yes, you can. you can work the the one thing it would be very hard to do is to shoot an entire garden feature.
Jason Ingram: in whether you could have moments within it. for instance When I do a garden feature for a magazine, I need to... i have a a crib sheet if you like of the shots i know i need to obtain i need to obtain uh sort of openers so openers tend to be double page spreads in the magazine and they need to be the glorious scene setting shots i need to get maybe six or seven of those then i will need to get the mid -range shots of plants borders
Jason Ingram: working together some details within that then I need to think about 18 specific plant portraits. that would relate to the garden and to the to the scene within that garden so within those 18 plant portraits for instance if if it wouldn't be out of the way to throw in a couple of rainy ones basically you know when you've got those lovely drops falling off
Jason Ingram: petals that kind of stuff but i don't tend to shoot things really really close i always like to show the plant in its context. which has more. more value than than the the kind of the classic very very macro shots of plants i don't i don't really do much in the way of that so yeah so you can You can use it and it's never.
Jason Ingram: It's never... All right. you know we're gardeners we we work in gardens so it it rain is part of it so i think there's always something you can do with it
Jennifer Gulizia: Absolutely. um
Jennifer Gulizia: I'm thinking about frostmas. Some of our listeners have maybe already had frost. And ended their season. Others maybe have not. Have you ever photographed the like frost on dahlias or?
Jason Ingram: Oh yes. Yeah, well...
Jennifer Gulizia: Th -
Jason Ingram: I love shooting in the winter. turn and sometimes the winter again if you're viewing it you can see on the top Left there. There's a beautiful frosty fennel and berries perennials working together Frost.
Jason Ingram: and winter can produce some of the most amazing conditions they really can and if you're if you The area where you live is prone to to a really good hoarfrost.
Jason Ingram: Then. even better because the frost can it can drip off the garden if you like Unfortunately... we haven't had very cold winters for the last couple of years last year i think we probably had about a week this is in the south where we had...
Jason Ingram: temperatures that had dropped enough to get frost. so so And i've I've got several gardens that I'm photographing this year. for for a particular publication and we do need frost so it's one of the hardest things to forecast for Um,
Jason Ingram: And I mean, I'm a... I'm a... part -time meteorologist really i mean i'm a complete weather nerd because I need to have all these different apps going on my phone to sort of work out is the conditions going to give us frost because of course it can be really really cold sometimes but actually quite dry
Jason Ingram: And that means there's going to be no frost because you course you need a level of humidity before you get that frost. So when when it all works, it's absolutely amazing. I love shooting the frost. but it's It's getting harder and harder to do so, but yeah.
Jason Ingram: Don't ever. don't Don't forget about the garden in the winter as far as photographs are concerned because there's there's lots and lots and lots of opportunity there. And and that's another great reason for.
Jason Ingram: I mean, if if if the garden has... plants that will benefit from having seed heads left in the garden that's going to give you the perfect perfect plant to photograph because obviously those wonderful plants that create incredible seed heads look so good in the winter.
Jennifer Gulizia: I love that. I love when you said you're a part -time meteorologist.
Jason Ingram: Yes.
Jennifer Gulizia: i First thing I do every morning is I pull up in my weather map and I'm like, okay, what's the temperature? 2023 was the last year that we had an incredible frost. And I spent from 7 until 10 in the morning taking pictures.
Jason Ingram: Yes.
Jennifer Gulizia: And we've yet to have a good frost since.
Jason Ingram: Oh really?
Jennifer Gulizia: ah Yeah.
Jason Ingram: Same then, gosh.
Jennifer Gulizia: Yeah. And so I keep looking. I'm like, are we going to get a frost?
Jason Ingram: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: Camera gear is loaded every day. and
Jason Ingram: Yes.
Jennifer Gulizia: brings me back to when I was a wedding photographer, I used to have three different weather apps. One of them even tracked like what angle the sun was going to be.
Jason Ingram: Yes.
Jennifer Gulizia: um because at this time of year, it changes so quickly from day to day as the days are getting shorter.
Jason Ingram: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: So I imagine you really have to watch all of that.
Jason Ingram: yes you do and that that's the other thing to today i mean you can the great thing also about winter is that you can. in effect. be shooting for the entirety of the day.
Jason Ingram: you can you can
Jennifer Gulizia: Yes.
Jason Ingram: pretty much shoot at midday. because of course the sun's so low in the sky. So... you know that's That's why it's great when i I have shoots that can take me outside of the UK as well. So for instance, with with Sweden.
Jason Ingram: I did a book in in Sweden over a period of about five years, I think it was. And. The winter there is just remarkable. and Almost to the day, they know what day it's going to.
Jason Ingram: it's going to start it's going to start getting cold and on a certain day and then it just snows every day for for months until the beginning of May. And the the the chap that I did the book with, a landscape architect called Ulf Nordvail who lives...
Jennifer Gulizia: Wow.
Jason Ingram: his home is right up in the the northern parts of sweden so i think 55 kilometers shy of the arctic circle so very very far north
Jennifer Gulizia: Wow.
Jason Ingram: But his his winters just... Just stunning. You know, it's just literally. The trees are... dripping. with frost and snow and and it's absolutely beautiful as long as you You can keep yourself.
Jason Ingram: Nice and wrapped up. But again, that that comes back to my experience that I mentioned earlier in the podcast about being up in in northern Canada. uh on on that period for that that trip but i mean that i was good that was going down to minus minus 40.
Jason Ingram: Sam's out.
Jennifer Gulizia: Oh my.
Jason Ingram: Yeah, that was a whole different thing. But yeah, I mean, winter is great, a really, really great time. So, but you just got to. Pick your time. And I'm... make sure you've got some good weather apps or someone that knows how to how to read the forecast properly.
Jason Ingram: But we're warming up, aren't we?
Jennifer Gulizia: I love that.
Jason Ingram: We're warming up. So it's it's harder and harder to get those like really cold days.
Jennifer Gulizia: We haven't even had snow really in the last few years. Like I keep thinking that I'm going to photograph my garden in the snow.
Jason Ingram: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: And in 2015, I think we had 90 inches of snow fall over the course of the winter.
Jason Ingram: Yeah.
Jason Ingram: Right. Gosh.
Jennifer Gulizia: winter and last year, I think we had. two inches fall.
Jason Ingram: Wow, wow
Jennifer Gulizia: which is a huge extreme on the swing.
Jason Ingram: Yeah, that really is.
Jennifer Gulizia: So I'm hoping that we get. em
Jason Ingram: yeah that really is isn't it yeah
Jennifer Gulizia: so But I love the seasonality aspect of it. thinking about how to photograph your garden. Because I think so often as flower farmers on Instagram, for example,
Jennifer Gulizia: We fall back to our. photos that we've taken in the summer and we share those and then people. feel kind of that. that fear of comparison or a feel of inadequacy where you're like, my garden doesn't look good right now when.
Jennifer Gulizia: In reality, we could be maybe showing beautiful photos. of what our farms and gardens actually look like. So what are some things that a farmer or a gardener could capture? to showcase in January and February on the farm.
Jason Ingram: Gosh. Well, I think um firstly... just the pure seasonality. the the light, the the quality of light, getting those really I think... I've always had this.
Jason Ingram: think um i've i've said it to many many people before that Good light hides a multitude of sins. It's just one of those things. You can make anything look good in good light. I really think you can. And and quite often...
Jason Ingram: I... i I always find it interesting when I walk around a garden with a gardener or a designer They're looking for faults.
Jason Ingram: it's just inherent they that that's what will happen you you you sit there see and they say oh don't photograph graph over there because i can see there's a patch or this has died back or i said don't really really don't worry because all i'm doing is i'm looking for the good stuff and i will make the good stuff really really sing so the eye is drawn to towards it and i think you can do the same thing with
Jason Ingram: on a flower farm in the winter think about all the things that you would not normally photograph it could be a It could be a but you know ah trough on the right -hand side that's empty, that's full of water, that's frozen over. It could be um some... some think some some ice icicles that are dropping dripping down from a side of a shed it could be a spider's web that's frozen on a frosty seed head it could even be leaves on on the ground
Jason Ingram: I mean, i one one of the books one of the the shots in my in my book... is... on the phone about the iphone photography or phone photography it's just a a picture I took in the local park, walking my dog. And it was just, I was just walking along and I just saw, looked to the floor and somehow.
Jason Ingram: this composition of all these different shaped leaves. I had. had fallen on the on the ground and and had a slight frost into it. And I just photographed it straight away. and and And it's one of... it's one of the The pitch is everyone really loves in the book, which took me about two seconds on whilst walking my dog. So, I mean, it's one of those things. It's just.
Jason Ingram: tune your eye into seeing all these different things that you wouldn't have because i mean really we are seeing the bare bones of a garden aren't we we're seeing the skeletons Everything's...
Jennifer Gulizia: bare bones we got
Jason Ingram: Everything's about shape. And it's about... uh contrast it's about how Things that catch your eye in the winter are very, very different because you're not looking for the big blooms of flowers. You're you're not really looking for so much colour.
Jason Ingram: So it's just a case of. I mean, if if you can leave things in your garden that you know are going to be good later on in the the season, then do. obviously very good for wildlife as well. but also as well as thinking about those things that look great in the garden, maybe even think about cutting them. and taking them into into into the studio as well or into the barn or wherever wherever you... Dude.
Jason Ingram: prepare your flowers because occasionally all you need is a window light You just need light. And it needs to come from one direction. You don't want it coming from all directions. You need light from one direction. So I can see with your the light on your face, for instance. you'll buy a window light.
Jason Ingram: and that
Jennifer Gulizia: Yes.
Jason Ingram: it gives you great light because you just got light from one direction and that's all you need in any given situation and every everyone one can and can find that kind of stuff so So it's a good time to both...
Jason Ingram: think about the details within your garden the bones of the garden stuff you wouldn't otherwise photograph but also maybe taking things from the garden inside where you can just put in a very very simple background.
Jason Ingram: and using one Window light. and really starting to explore. Uh, how things look and and you know just really having fun with it So there's there's plenty to go out in the winter.
Jennifer Gulizia: I love that advice and I think it also makes you be so present. because you really have to be paying attention to notice those things.
Jason Ingram: Yes.
Jason Ingram: Yeah, you do. that that That is absolutely crucial. And that very very that's very, very true. It's just, it's a case of looking. You've just got to look all the time.
Jennifer Gulizia: And I think that's true for any picture you take is that you I think that. Developing a photographer's eye. really goes back to just being present and
Jason Ingram: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: taking time to notice what other people miss.
Jason Ingram: Yeah, absolutely. And also the other thing is. there's a saying i use which is getting your eye in it's occasionally Something might.
Jason Ingram: become overpowering in your visual awareness in a space. You might arrive in a space. I know I get it myself. Less so now, but I certainly used to get a mixture of panic.
Jason Ingram: by and and probably overstimulated. by too much. And I used to think i I just need you just need to slow yourself down and and get your eye in.
Jennifer Gulizia: Sure.
Jason Ingram: And once you start to photograph. and look around you might be taking dead frames if you like to start with but what it does is it gives your eye and your brain a time to adjust to your...
Jason Ingram: your given situation and start to find the shots. and once you start to find those first couple of shots you then flow. you've got your eye in yeah and and And that is.
Jason Ingram: That's the the the ultimate. Place to be. as a photographer where you already everything starts to flow and of course once that happens you're seeing shots left right and center But sometimes it takes a bit of time for that to happen. but persevere with it because I think it's really it's a really valid thing to do.
Jennifer Gulizia: That's such great advice. jason thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us I have been asking our... podcast guest this last year a series of quickfire questions.
Jennifer Gulizia: Is it all right if I ask you a few?
Jason Ingram: Yeah, a quick fire. I like a quick fire.
Jennifer Gulizia: Quick questions. um Normally I ask, what is your favorite flower to grow? But I would love to know, what is your favorite flower to photograph?
Jason Ingram: Oh gosh, this is like this is a good one. um It is actually a snowdrop.
Jennifer Gulizia: oh
Jason Ingram: Yeah, it's a snowdrop. And and for for many reasons, really. I mean, i've i've I'm not... I wouldn't class myself. I don't grow them. I always photograph a collection or two.
Jason Ingram: every year. it fascinates me how people. Always. claim not to be galanthophiles and very very quickly carry on to tell me about.
Jason Ingram: the 10 new varieties they... paid extraordinarily large amounts of money for but the thing about the snowdrop is it it symbolizes so many different things for me it's It comes in winter, so it's very much it's the first.
Jason Ingram: It's the first real thing, isn't it, that we're we're looking at. that's actually growing from the ground. I like the detail. I love the details. of of snowdrops the fact they're so low to the ground i also like photographing them when they're in pots where I can...
Jason Ingram: actually really really go in very closer to these these pictures um these these plants. And. uh yeah and Yeah, and they don't...
Jason Ingram: I think. A lot of people become quiet. obsessed and absorbed with it as ah as a plant because it has It has. Very little competition in the garden at time of the year.
Jason Ingram: So I would have to say it's the Snowdrop. It's probably one of the things I photographed. I can see over here, actually. You can see on the... the right there i've just got i've ah in fact yes there you go there you go i mean there's i don't have that many plant portraits in my line studio behind me but i do have lots of snowdrops Sorry.
Jennifer Gulizia: Oh yes.
Jennifer Gulizia: Do you have two, one in the bottom and then one in the top?
Jason Ingram: I'll have to. I have three there and I have one above my head as well. Um, I think.
Jennifer Gulizia: I love it
Jason Ingram: The last collection I i photographed was... ah Jimi Blake in Hunting Brook in Ireland. And... he's got ah he's got a remarkable collection over there and you just add to it more and more and more so and they're they're delightful things i love them yeah so it would have to be the snowdrop
Jennifer Gulizia: I love that. Okay, next question. Why do local flowers matter to you?
Jason Ingram: Oh gosh, I mean, the same as local food. It's exactly the same. I don't see that there's no difference. I think we've we've spent... Years and years and years realizing that.
Jason Ingram: buying anything locally something that's grown in the soil that's that hasn't been flown or or made or driven miles and miles and miles anything you can get locally in my eyes is always going to be better. and and And fortunately now...
Jason Ingram: Bye. people are starting to realize that I think we've got ourselves into to the mindset that we know about food, we realise what happens with food.
Jason Ingram: it's very very important that we we we buy locally but i think Fortunately now. we're starting to realize the same about cut flowers. absolutely essential that we support. all the cut flower growers and farmers that that are producing you know producing these incredible things And.
Jason Ingram: Yeah. it something it was a hard i think it was a hard sell many years ago but now i thankfully I think that we we're all coming around to the fact that this needs to be supported. Lots of people are behind it.
Jason Ingram: And it's just so much better isn't to have something that you know. where it's come from. And you know the love and and and the passion that's been put into growing these plants.
Jennifer Gulizia: Absolutely. Well, we're grateful that you grow or that you photograph these beautiful flowers for people to see.
Jason Ingram: Yeah. Yeah. Yes.
Jennifer Gulizia: Okay, Jason, last quick fire question. What are you most grateful for that flowers have given you?
Jason Ingram: that that's quite something because I mean... Flowers. have um On a very practical level. flowers have given me They've given me a career. They've given me everything.
Jason Ingram: on a day -to -day basis I probably... during the growing seasons, there wouldn't be one day. that i'm not close face to face with a flower.
Jason Ingram: and something growing, but definitely. even if I'm photographing garden I will be photographing flowers within that day so they've given me absolutely everything from The...
Jason Ingram: The... the the The things I need to survive financially because it's given me a career. they' Emotionally, they've given me. They've just given me so many moments where.
Jason Ingram: I feel that. I have this sense of ah it's kind of mortality almost really it's it's just that that whole thing Nothing stays the same forever.
Jason Ingram: And a flower, I feel. really, really shows that, but that there's there's no there's no harm. in in being aware of that because it's one of those things you to be able to see something that grows And...
Jason Ingram: certainly if you've been the grower yourself and you've sown the seed you've you've seen the seedlings you've pricked them out you've moved them on you've you've seen every stage of it and although i wouldn't class myself as a grower i certainly garden and there's nothing better than when I've had something that I photographed that I've actually seen all the way from from seed to... to full flower and beyond again.
Jason Ingram: Because that's the other thing. we every single plant. has so many different stages to to to its life so i i think i'd I sort of...
Jason Ingram: I own my own life to flowers, if you like. So that, you know, it's been one of those things that that has been absolutely. instrumental to my career and and it's been you know they've they've Flowers have given me so much.
Jason Ingram: Everything, really.
Jennifer Gulizia: I love that. Jason, is there anything I haven't asked you today that you want to share with our listeners?
Jason Ingram: Uh... No, i think i think the the no i've've we've I've mentioned my book many times. I do i also have ah um an online masterclass. with Create Academy.
Jennifer Gulizia: oh
Jason Ingram: which is always available through. create academy and they they do lots of different uh different courses within within flower growing garden design Cut flowers as well.
Jason Ingram: and and i was asked to do one on photography and the the one thing about the particular company that did the muskets they they film everything absolutely beautifully So they followed me at sunrise, at sunset. so that that's a really great thing to go and have a look at so that song create academy But no, I think I think you've covered.
Jason Ingram: You've covered everything, actually, and I think i've I've sort of... hopefully given you a certain insight into my my career to date.
Jennifer Gulizia: I've loved this. um This has been so great. It makes me want to go pick up my camera and take some pictures this evening.
Jason Ingram: Great.
Jennifer Gulizia: So I hope our listeners feel the same.
Jason Ingram: Good.
Jennifer Gulizia: For those who want to connect with you, can you share where they can find you? And we'll include the links in our show notes as well.
Jason Ingram: Yeah. Yeah, the best best thing is either at Jason Ingram on Instagram or jasoningram .co .uk. on my website where most things are ah listed. but i Like with all of us, we we everything that I do.
Jason Ingram: tends to be put onto instagram so jason ingram we'll We'll get you there. So that's the places.
Jennifer Gulizia: Perfect well Jason thank you so much for joining us today this has been such a delight to chat with you and I look forward to seeing more of your photos on Instagram.
Jason Ingram: Yes, and thank you for having me. It's been an absolute delight. Thank you.
Jennifer Gulizia: Likewise. Thank you, Jason.
