In 2016 I was commissioned to produce an image bank for Walsall Arboretum. Shot over the year the brief was to produce a series of images that would provide the contemporary images of a wonderful Park and public woodland that had a great history and would be the basis of a website that was under construction. Websites for such destinations require up to date images of a consistent quality and style, the Arboretum is well recorded and there are many great images shot by photo enthusiasts, however getting permissions and the right quality would be a nightmare for anyone trying to get a professional & consistent look, any parkland is a great subject for a photographer but it requires images across the seasons and there were lots of landmarks such a water features and buildings that required images.

People are also an issue as permissions may be required and although wide images are fine with people in, they should not be the dominant subject, the viewer should be looking at the location. Human activity within the park is certainly acceptable, but if the person in the shot becomes the subject the image is more about them than the location. To get around this I often shoot people from behind or side on, this shows the scale and the experience of the visit but hopefully does not age the image and dominate the landscape.

In summer the Water-splash area is teaming with parents & children enjoying the free facilities, but especially in this day and age, just taking pictures of children is problematic even with good intentions, therefore children were used who had connections to staff and were model released.

There were many hundreds of images delivered, from Macro Flower images to harsh ice covered lakes, night shots of trees to Bonfire night videos, as a commission it has been a wonderful year long experience and I have enjoyed almost every minute, however some cold rain soaked evenings were possibly not quite as much fun as other days. A link to the website shall be available in the near future & I hope to return to this wonderful Victorian Park again soon.

To see more images please see my Walsall Arboretum folio -