Short Courses:
Creative Workshops

Garden Writing

2-day workshop with Pattie Barron
20, 27 January 2012 (10.00am - 4.00pm)
£325 inclusive of VAT and lunch

We are delighted to have the highly experienced journalist Pattie Barron, best known for her weekly column in Homes & Property, London Evening Standard, conducting this course.

Day One Each student should arrive with a prepared short piece (about 600 words) describing what is special about a particular garden - their own, one that they have visited, a small back garden or public park. Each piece will be used as a way of explaining how to immediately grab the reader's attention and ways of making the text come alive. The importance of good grammar, sentence construction and correct horticultural spelling will be emphasised. Copy will then be used as a springboard for talking about the principles of garden writing, incorporating short exercises on describing an outstanding garden feature and the skill in putting over the facts, avoiding excessive use of flowery adjectives such as 'gorgeous' and 'pretty'.

Day Two Using the homework of the previous week, we will examine what does and does not work in order to produce fact-filled, interesting and inspirational copy that readers are going to want to cut out and keep for reference. The afternoon will be spent discussing the practicalities of garden writing as a career, the importance of having a unique writing 'voice', of letting your character and personality come through and gearing your copy to the publications that you are writing for. The different ways of getting work, how to interact with the editors and garden photographers plus how to make syndication work for you, will all be covered on this comprehensive, fast-paced course.

Class size limited to 10.

A repeat of our previous successful course...

"What a brilliant course it was. The critique of our articles was really valuable and it was great to get some feedback from a professional. The course was informal and informative. Pattie was very generous with her knowledge and really did encourage everyone to get out there and give it a try. The venue was fantastic and the other attendees made the whole experience even more enjoyable - many thanks." Liz Hughes

"I absolutely loved it! Pattie Barron is just a pure delight and had us all hooked from the start. It was lovely meeting all the other delegates on the course... Always great to expand on contacts in the industry." Louise Venter Garden Design

Pattie Barron is well known for her gardening pieces in the London Evening Standard, connecting with London's passionate green-fingered community.

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Close-up Flower Photography

2-day workshop with Elizabeth Zeschin
2, 3 May 2012 (10.00am - 4.00pm)
£320 inclusive of VAT and lunch

This is a two-day workshop for beginner to intermediate students of photography. Elizabeth Zeschin will share her expertise with students in creating floral close-ups on location in the garden and in the studio. This course is designed for the individual interested either in personal, fine art or commercial applications to his or her photography. The techniques involved in creating beautiful yet simple photographic floral still life compositions will be explained.

Day One Students will explore and discuss different aesthetic possibilities in the area of macro flower photography. They will be encouraged to pre-visualise an image utilising either conventional or digital means. Various macro lenses and extension tubes will be discussed and utilised. An analysis of natural as well as flash lighting will be explored.

Day Two Participants will do practical work in a nearby garden (weather-dependent), applying technical precepts to create and develop their own different photographic vision plus learning different approaches involved in solving them.

Editing and printing will be done in the classroom, and methods of displaying and preserving work will be addressed.

Each student will bring their own DSLR camera, macro lens, laptop, tripod, memory card and memory card reader. We will supply cut flowers but feel free to bring any flower you would particularly like to photograph.

Class size is limited to 8 students.

Elizabeth Zeschin is highly soughtafter in London and New York for photographic commissions and shows.

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Garden and Landscape Photography in Hampshire

2-day workshop with Clive Nichols
13, 14 June 2012
£385 inclusive of VAT and lunch

This 2-day course will be held at the garden and home of Rosemary Alexander, which offers a wealth of plant and landscape subjects.

The first day will concentrate on garden plant portraits, and the second day on local woods and landscapes.

Depending on the weather, students should be prepared to shoot later into the evening when the light is better and the wind drops.

Students are asked to bring their own prints/digital files along for a critical assessment of their work.

The second day will begin with a fascinating short lecture on selling photographs - for magazines, newspapers, calendars, cards etc - who and how to approach and what they will pay.

Limited space.

Clive Nichols is one of our foremost garden photographers and is the author of a leading book on the subject. Rosemary Alexander's garden has been much praised and has been featured in most of the leading magazines.

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