Spencer Collection

22/07/2024

Delighted to share my winning image 'Kitchen Garden Sunrise' from the PGPA Image of the Month competition for June. The The Professional Garden Photographers Association (PGPA) is part of the Garden Media Guild Page
This image features a wonderful glasshouse from Hartley Botanic in a beautiful Derbyshire garden.

28/07/2023

07/03/2023

Delighted to have won Image of the Month with The Professional Garden
Photographers Association for February. Thanks to the PGPA judges and the Garden Media Guild.
The image was taken at Hopton Hall in Derbyshire. The walled garden is part of the snowdrop walk.

23/06/2020

A photo shoot from last year. Such an amazing garden and I always feel privileged as a photographer to be allowed into people’s private gardens 😊 When you get a brief you never really know what to expect or how to prepare. I alway start by building a rapport with the owner and it always involves a discussion about the weather and best time to photograph, early morning or late evening! Then you get there and the pressure is on because you have to immediately take in the scene and work out the best angles, all the time the light is getting increasingly lighter or darker, depending which time of day you are shooting at. On top of this there is invariably the tidy up operation, hiding hosepipes, plastic pots etc. I enjoy the pressure really but at the time you just have to get in the zone. For this image I needed to learn a new technique of timing feeding the fish while holding the camera millimetres from the waters surface and not dropping it in the pond 😳

18/06/2020

Some more images I captured of my daughter in our greenhouse for a blog post I have written for take a look at their news section on their web site I would love your feedback 😊
Juggling family life, work and home schooling has been testing to say the least but when you can combine a couple of tasks it makes life a little easier 😂
Now all I need is a commission from (wellies) or (top) 🤞🏻😉 @ Ashbourne, Derby, United Kingdom

05/06/2020

The morning sun illuminating our beech hedge captured during last week’s glorious weather. I keep telling myself I am glad of the rain, the garden is definitely glad of the rain but I do hope we get more sun again soon!

04/06/2020

May is the month for shaping up those ragged box balls. I just managed to squeeze the job in last week before we tipped into June! They do keep increasing in my garden, I am always tempted to add more, then when I am clipping them I make a ‘note to self’ - maybe I have enough! It is a good excuse however to get out my posh shears give them a clean and sharpen and loose myself in the process for a few hours. Plus the finished results alway look superb..... maybe I could get just a few more! 😅

03/06/2020

Succulent - no idea what it’s name is I inherited this from a gardener I did some work for many years ago. To be honest this is not the actual plant just a descendent of the original.. great first time plants, little care needed, easy to propagate what more can I say 🤷🏼‍♂️

02/06/2020

As we head into week 11 since lock down started I think it will be the appreciation of the small things I will most remember from this period. The time given to us all to see the beautiful spring season evolve in all its beauty. The spring bulbs come and go, the blossom bloom in all it’s glory then fade with the hope of the fruits to come. Time to appreciate our local environment without the need to travel far and wide. What have been your take outs from this time of reflection?

31/05/2020

I am not the biggest lover of rhododendron or azaleas but we inherited several in our garden and every year I grow to like them a little more. Some of them are vary garish colours and this clashes with my love of muted tones.
This one is a pure white one, don’t tell the others but this is my favourite 😉 I love this image it almost looks like it was shot in a studio but this was in pure natural light in the garden.

30/05/2020

This image is from a client shoot from a couple of years ago. I got the call to go to meet garden designer Pamela in her own garden. I obviously jumped at the opportunity any excuse to have a look around someone else’s garden. I was not disappointed the garden was beautiful. The shoot was of this shed greenhouse combination. It is manufactured from cedar and you will see here it was ageing beautifully to a silver grey colour. I loved this view point which was a long grass pathway down the side of the house.