How This Wooden Camera Won an International Award for Garden Photos

We’ve often said it’s not about the camera but the photographer. However, today, we would like to make an exception. It’s as much about the cameras as it is about the photographer. And in the case of Max Rush, who won the International Garden Photographer of the Year 2025, the camera was a labor of love. How so? The photographer crafted a wooden camera that gave back to nature.

All images by Max Rush. Used with permission.

Max Rush is a London-based landscape photographer who has recently begun designing his own cameras. “Having spent a few years using large-format film, I wanted a way of combining the unique controls of the large-format camera with the advantages of digital photography,” he says on his website. This led to the genesis of Richmond Park Field Camera, which has its own unique story that may warm your heart.

As the name itself suggests, the DIY camera was named after the thing it was created with: the Richmond Park trees. “The story of the trees’ lives, growth, death and return to the soil is told in the wood of the camera itself, which shows the passage of the seasons, signs of dead wood-eating insect activity and the dark streaks of fungi,” he explained in another post. The idea was also to allow the camera to connect to its environment but also to add a personal touch to the equipment.

So, what is it made of? The camera is a digital device designed to work as closely as a film camera. “I used to use a 5×4-inch wooden field camera (a Chinese one I bought rather than made) and color negative film, and as I started experimenting with digital cameras, I felt the loss of all the advantages this tool brought: large, physical controls, the experience of viewing the ground glass with both eyes, the quality (of course) and also the separation between constructing the image from recording it,” he tells us in an interview. However, he used a digital back instead of a medium format back due to financial constraints.

However, that did not deter Rush, and he invented the sliding back that moved a 35mm sensor across a 6x7cm grid. For this, he utilized a Sony a7R body, which gives him plenty of megapixels to work with. “It’s quite nice that this works like a thousand film holders (dark slides) in one while only taking up the space of two. I use the live view of the incorporated mirrorless body for final focusing,” Rush adds. When the images are stitched together, Rush gets an ultra-high-resolution image of 200MP. Besides that, he uses analog wooden tools for most of his photography. Rush says this gives him “a connection to the subject matter, especially when I’m photographing oak trees.” There is also a 240mm lens, which has been adapted and remounted to fit the setup.

To give you an idea about the woods, they are actually sourced from Richmond Park, which includes an ancient English oak tree and its beautiful dark brown coloration. The knobs of the camera came from a cherry tree at Richmond Gate, while the rails come from the Conduit oak, a 400-500-year-old tree that is still alive. “Whether their rendition is captured by film or digital, the color balance and ‘drawing’ of the image is down to them rather than the recording medium,” he adds

Rush shot Spectacle of the Painted Storm with the wooden camera at Brockwell Park, Lambeth, London. However, little did he know the picture would be chosen to be crowned the International Garden Photographer of the Year 2025. According to jury head Tyrone McGlinchey: “This winning photograph has managed to capture that rare, magical moment between stormy weather when the sun and clouds blend to create painterly light. This, combined with Max’s unique device setup, has produced an image of outstanding artistic merit.” So, it was not just Rush’s ability to see the image but also how his camera helped to highlight the details present in nature.

While we are talking about images and DIY cameras, this also brings the question of AI infiltrating and impacting the veracity of images. Rush says that he is curious about it but he is “worried about the uncertainty of whether any information was getting fabricated rather than enhanced.” This is because Rush is trying to provide a “scientific discovery to images of nature,” which is entirely dependent on “how much of the ecosystem is captured on the surface of leaves, the bark of the trunk or in the surrounding landscape.” And so, if the information is not being recorded in the moment, it would not have much meaning. ” I’ve grown up with things I can touch, move, and arrange by hand. I can’t reconcile the concept of art with anything other than human experience,” he tells us.

In many ways, the wooden camera not only celebrates nature but has also become an emblem of innovation in landscape photography. The local wood showcases the circle of life while also helping people understand the significance of nature and how it continues to help us even when it’s dying. At the same time, we are reminded how a photographer’s unique perspective can help us bridge the gap between technology and nature.