Great Garden Photography with Paul Debois & Clive Boursnell

Creating evocative, interesting photographs that tell the story of a garden, is trickier than you think. RHS Portfolio Photography judges Paul Debois and Clive Boursnell see many portfolios of garden images every year and will pass on both what they have learnt in their many years of professional garden photography as well as top tips for creating a successful entry for RHS Portfolio in 2023.

Paul Debois has been a professional photographer since 1979, working with a wide range of subjects from automotive and portrait to landscape and botanical.

He started his training at the Ministry of Defence, and in 1985 he joined Haymarket Publishing. Whist there he contributed to many lifestyle and automotive titles. Since 1988 he has pursued a freelance career, initially in the automotive field, shooting features for magazines such as What Car, Classic and Sportscar and Car Magazine. He also worked for manufacturers such as Fiat, Audi, Honda and BMW producing publicity material. During this period he won the Guild of Motoring Writers ‘Car Photographer of the Year’ award four times.

Then in 2000 he started working for Gardeners’ World Magazine and his work shifted more towards his particular interest in landscape and botanical photography. Since 2006 his work has been managed and distributed by GAP Photos, who sell his stories and images to magazines and books worldwide. In addition to his commissioned work, he has exhibited at shows such as the Garden Photographer of the Year, where he has won or has been runner up in various categories. Work has also been shown at the Affordable Art Fair, Battersea, and its associated shows in Europe and New York. 

For several years he ran botanical photography courses for the Royal Photographic Society and was subsequently invited on two occasions to be a judge for the Garden Photographer of the Year. In 2019 he was invited to join the Royal Horticultural Society Portfolio judging panel”.

Clive Boursnell is a renowned photographer of architecture, gardens, landscapes and people. He turned to photography as the culmination of a career which included classical ballet and working as a woodsman, a farmhand, a miner and prospector and a mountaineer. He lives in London.

Clive’s photographic clients range from magazines such as Sunday Times Colour Supplement, cultural institutions such as National Trust and English Heritage, private country houses/gardens, artists and musicians. He has published many books featuring his garden photography, including most recently Secret Gardens of the South East of England. He has been an Associate Lecturer at Oxford Brookes Univeristy for 12 years and in addition conducts photographic workshops, does private teaching and work with National Garden Scheme and Oxford Botanic Gardens, as well as photographic judging for the Royal Horticultural Society.

Clive was awarded BEM in Queens New Year Honours 2018.

All images © Paul Debois

* Please note, ticket sales will stop at 07.00 BST Friday 2 September 2022.

Zoom video-conferencing

This event will take place via video-conference using Zoom Webinar. You will be emailed a link in advance so you can join the event. 

Booking a place

You will need to book online in order to be able to access this event. Booking closes at 07.00 BST on Friday 2 September. This event is free for Digital Imaging members, but these members still have to ‘purchase’ a (free) ticket to receive a link for joining the event. If you are not an RPS member you will need to register (for free) with the RPS website in order to book.

Please check whether your membership in Digital Imaging is still active before booking your place. This will be checked when ticketing closes, and any mistake could invalidate your ticket. Check your status by logging into the RPS website.

If you are outside the UK this service will help you to calculate the timing of the online workshop.

After booking you will receive an RPS Event Booking Confirmation email. If you do not receive this, you have not succeeded in booking a ticket. 

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