Smartphone Photography Workshop for Garden Lovers
The essential skills for better smartphone pictures of plants and gardens
9.30am – 1pm, Sunday 14 June 2026
$95 (or $90 for Financial Friends of the gardens)
Venue: The Bunya Pavillion, Southern Highlands Botanic Gardens, 1 Old South Road, BOWRAL, 2576
A three hour hands on workshop learning the ins and outs of smart phone photography in the garden and general landscape. Morning tea included with Barista coffee and home made treats made by the Baking Friends of the Gardens
What we’ll cover:
– The ins and outs of modern smartphones: Apple iPhone & Samsung examples
– The hidden features that enable the best possible pictures
– Understanding composition for flowers, gardens and visual story-telling
– A handy printed workbook with take-away quick reminders
– Networking morning tea for greater shared understanding
– Practical field photography, with wet-weather backup
Today’s modern smartphones produce remarkable pictures. But there are a host of features and techniques that most people don’t know about. This Southern Highlands Botanic Gardens smartphone photography course, presented by professional photographer John Swainston, will:
- Show you the 10 essential features in your phone for better pictures
- Demonstrate options in your phone you may not even know about!
- Help you use video sequences for more complete story-telling options
- Equip you to visually document your garden milestones and development over time
- Help you create wall-art quality pictures of your favourite flowers and garden views
- Teach you when and where to get great shots, even when the sun isn’t shining
A modern smartphone can cost up to $2,500. This SHBG course will ensure you get the most from that investment. While the demonstrations are given on an iPhone 17 Pro, parallel techniques for Samsung Android system users will also be covered. Custom-designed for flower and garden lovers, the workshop is limited to just 20 attendees.
After morning tea, you’ll have the opportunity to practice your new skills in the garden, with practical help and tips. To close off the morning, it’s back to the Bunya Pavillion to update your course workbook and a further chance to review and discuss the pictures you made.
What you should bring: A fully charged smartphone and/or digital camera, warm clothing for fieldwork outside and good waterproof walking shoes. If inclement weather makes outside work impractical, pre-prepared advanced ‘photo-sets’ will be available to enable practical learning. Images of various gardens in the Highlands, made on both phones and conventional cameras, will illustrate the key elements of image making, using the full array of options in modern phones and cameras.
