The ability to handle a camera and take photographs of landscape work you have been involved in, gardens you admire, construction details illustrating new works, plant species you want to work with, public and private art installations etc. is an important skill to acquire if you are interested in making a career in landscape and garden design.
Assignment
You are required to upload several images of plants or landscapes that you have taken to your Google Docs space. Here is a sample of a photo taken in a Chines Garden in Dunedin, New Zealand.We have tried to make the image 'tell a story' and convey the feel of a chinese style garden.
Your portfolio
As part of this Diploma of Landscape Design, we expect that you will build a portfolio of work to show your potential clients. This portfolio does not have to contain solely your work. When you initially consult with a client, you want to be able to show them examples of gardens in different styles. That is guaranteed to to get discussion going. Clients will readily tell you the styles that the do not like.
Our preference is for you to make an A2 folder with photo album style inserts making each page devoted to a particular style. You will need to take a number of images of (say) a garden with an informal theme using native plants, and another series of photos of formal gardens complimenting a classic villa style house and so on. A good source of garden styles is to take advanatge of the Open Garden Schemes which run in most Australian States. Photos of each style should be gathered together on separate pages in the portfolio. This means that you can sit with a client, contemplate the site together and decide on a style. Rather obviously we cannot view your entire portfolio, but we cannot emphasize enough the importance of creating one.
As mentioned, this project involves taking an online course on photography and sending us a copy of several images that you have taken with your camera. The figures below show some examples of the type of photographs we have taken when working in the field. You should aim for some similar images, but do concentrate on capturing images illustrating different styles of gardens.
Your learning tasks
Here is a link to a web site where we have provided access to an online course on photographing plants in the landscape.
http://www.gardencad.net/plantsel
Please take the first course in that series: "An Introduction to photographing plants in the landscape". Note that a user name and password is required to take this course. Please email us with a request for your unlock codes.
Landscape style and plants for a portfolio (not an exhaustive list)
Modern courtyard to complement Tuscan style house.
Landscape design - newly constructed commercial site
Landscape design - construction detail by Paul Ashford Landscapes
Massed planting Lavender spp
Landscape design - private garden
Landscape design - art work installation in a commercial site
Public space art work
Favourite species
Close up of Acacia species
Close up of Kunzea baxteri
Flower of Hakea laurina
Close up flower of Dietes spp bicolour
Habit of Echium fastuosum
Garden art
Lanscape construction details
Reiterating the import of your portfolio
Right from the outset it important that you begin to build a portfolio of your work. We suggest that you buy a large format folder (A2) and that you create some sections in it for different photographs and plans of different style gardens and separate sections for photos of trees, shrubs, ground covers and climbers. Put considerable effort into this because when you visit clients, you will take it with you. By showing a client samples of work that you like, styles of gardens and plants, you can rapidly determine what the client would like in a landscape design. A competent landscape designer should be able to work in any one of a number of styles and not seek to impose their personal preferences.
