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Manfrotto Backpack 50 at the Chelsea Flower Show 2015

As a travel and garden photographer the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London is the pinacle of the horticultural year. After photographing at the show over a number of years I know the layout of the site and knew which equipment to bring. Obviously the camera equipment is the most important part of a photographers kit, however many people overlook how important the camera bag can be. For the Chelsea flower show I chose my Manfrotto Professional Backpack 50 for the job as it packs in lots of camera gear, whilst still feeling light when carried due to its well designed waist strap and shoulder straps which you can pull thus bringing the bag nearer to your body.

Manfrotto Chelsea blog Stephen Studd Photography travel photography workshops tours and holidays

Yes the bag really does fit all this equipment:
Canon 6D body and remote release.
Canon battery charger
Canon lenses:
24 – 70mm f2.8
70 – 200mm f2.8
17- 40mm f4
100 – 400 f 4.5-5.6
100 mm f2.8 macro
180mm f 3.5 macro
Lee grad filters and lens adaptors which fit neatly in to the side pockets for easy access.
Computer and lead.
Box of business cards and postcards.
Various memory cards (not shown).
Camera instruction manual (not shown).

I also used my trusty Manfrotto 055 carbon fibre tripod which has travelled round the world many times with me.

NOTE: the bag is also the right size for cabin baggage for travel photography photo shoots.

Manfrotto Chelsea blog Stephen Studd Photography travel photography workshops tours and holidays

I had a 5 day press pass for the event with prized 5.30am early access, when the light is much kinder to photographers. The ‘Urban Retreat’ garden below designed by Adam Frost, was shot just after sunrise with the sun hitting the flowers from behind, which is a great technique employed by garden photographers as it shows off the shape, form and translucence of the flowers, making them really stand out.

RHS Chelsea flower show 2015 - The Homebase Garden - Designer Adam Frost - Sponsor Homebase awarded Gold

This year I concentrated on photographing the show gardens as I had several commissions to complete as well as shooting stock images for GAP gardens. There are so many different styles of garden to photograph with many design ideas. One garden that had bold dynamic hard landscaping was Darren Hawkes garden for Brewin Dolphin. This garden had lots of trees planted in the garden, to give a feeling of an early summers day I shot the garden when the sunlight was dappling through the trees canopy.

The Brewin Dolphin Garden - - Designer Darren Hawkes Landscapes - Sponsor Brewin Dolphin awarded gold medal

I am a great fan of natural swimming ponds where plants and micro organisms instead of chlorine keep the water clean. At Chelsea this year ‘The Retreat’ garden designed by Jo Thompson had a natural swimming pond that blended well in to the environment. For the shot below of the garden I used a Lee 0.6ND graduated soft filter to balance the top of the photo with its highlights, to the bottom of the photo which is darker. I was after the feeling of a fresh, warm, still, summers morning.

RHS Chelsea flower show 2015 The M&G Garden – The Retreat - designer Jo Thompson - sponsors M & G Investments awarded silver gilt medal

The stars of the show at Chelsea are the plants themselves. When photographing flowers it is always important to check out the background they are against. The bright vibrant purple hues with hints of orange in the Lupin flowers against the orange hues of the rusted steel worked well together in the ‘Healthy Cities’ garden designed by Chris Beardshaw.

RHS Chelsea flower show 2015 Morgan Stanley Healthy Cities garden – Designer Chris Beardshaw - Sponsor – Morgan Stanley - awarded gold medal

When plants are backlit with early morning or late evening sunlight they really show flowers off to their best. The white Eremurus flowers below are lit by the first light hitting the garden. As the sunlight is hitting the flowers from behind and only illuminating them, they really stand out as the main focal point in the Telegraph garden designed by Marcus Barnett.

RHS Chelsea flower show 2015 - The Telegraph Garden – Designer - Marcus Barnett - Sponsors The Telegraph - Awarded

One of the big stars this year in the show gardens was the Protea flower in the ‘Time in Between’ garden designed by Charlie Albone. Again the flower head is being backlit from early morning sunlight, which really gives the red bracts of the flower head a fiery glow whilst gently illuminating the central flower stamens.

RHS Chelsea flower show 2015 - The Time in Between – Designer Charlie Albone - Sponsor – Husqvarna - Gardena - awarded

When photographing flowers these are always good techniques to employ, flowers might look good to the eye in bright sunlight but they don’t photograph so well in harsh light, a reason why the RHS grant early morning access to garden photographers at their shows. Looking at all the show gardens it is hard to imagine that they haven’t been there for much longer than the few weeks it takes to actually build them, which is a real testament to the hard work from all the designers to the build crew to get them looking so good.

I was pleased I had chosen the  Manfrotto Backpack 50 for this job as it is really well built, sturdy and it kept my equipment dry when there were heavy showers. The bag also fits in an awful lot of camera equipment which is needed for this type of assignment.

For more on the Chelsea show gardens visit my WordPress blog https://stephenstuddphotography.wordpress.com/ and you can keep in touch via my websites and social media.

Stephen StuddOther articles by author

Stephen Studd is an award winning professional travel and garden photographer. His photography is published regularly around the world for over 25 years, from front cover of National Geographic magazine, to countless other magazines, books, brochures and digital media.

Stephen recently founded Digital Photography Holidays, leading small groups to his favourite places on the planet, more information can be found here: http://www.digitalphotographyholidays.com

Stephen also shoots commissioned photography assignments and stock.

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