I’ve grown up around Rhodendrons like they were a normal thing every town had heaps of, I now realise this is not the case and as I age I appreciate this beautiful town even more! I’m incredibly lucky to live near a large plantation of rare breed Rhodendrons which bloom every late May into a stunning array of colour. The variety is one of the best in the UK.

Last spring I finally took my ‘big camera’ down with a friend of mine and tried my best to work out how to photograph them. Rather than just plonking someone in front of them just because they were pretty.  I needed to figure out how the light was falling and also how to edit for the deep green shadows and colour casts they can give.

As you can see I figured it out and I’m looking forward to getting lost in this plantation with some of my clients this year. I think they are best suited to families with 0-18 months old or confident children 3.5 years and over. The only reason being the flowers can be rather high up so it lends itself towards children being comfortably carried. Or, children that can take direction and interact with the flowers in the best light and position, so not being too scared to stand in the branches or hold the flowers, which there are absolutely heaps of!

My children found over 7 hybrid Rhododendron varieties in 2019 and I’m sure there were more! Here are some of the photographs created when I popped down with my children and friend.