Hemant Jariwala was a big draw this week with so many members keen to see his images and learn from his techniques.  Hemant is an award-winning photographer, who specialises in botanical, garden, landscape and iPhoneography. His images have been regularly published in popular photography & garden life-style magazines, greeting cards, calendars and books, around the world.  He began by explaining that his prime technique is that he composes his images 'through his viewfinder ALWAYS - not looking at the backscreen and not relying on post processing/cropping.  His backgrounds are natural - as he finds them.  And he says, the more you practice, the more you see the image further ahead of you - not 1 metre, but eventually 10 metres!  His presentation was threaded through with a clear joy of photography and a love for nature and flowers.   Hemant treated us to a photoessay, presenting an intimate study of flowers - close-up and portraits, that were once considered exotic are now common and mundane to Britain. Indeed, botanical photography is often considered as ‘record photography’, but Hemant showed the ‘artistic persona’ and beauty of flowers that have been taken for granted.  

In 1993, Hemant Jariwala won two major awards: Practical Photography magazine’s ‘Photographer of the Year’;  Royal Photography Society (RPS) International Slide Exhibition (General Category) Gold Medal & The Agfa Trophy.  Hemant is an Associate of the Royal Photography Society, and member of Bedford Camera Club