Photographing the Wormsloe oak avenue

The hour, and why nothing else comes close

Early light comes in sideways under the canopy and picks out the moss, which is the thing that makes these photographs work. By the middle of the day the light is overhead, the contrast is flat and there are cars in your frame. The swing between quiet and packed is about two and a half hours long, so being early is worth more than any lens you own: the timing in full. And since the avenue begins inside the entrance, the ticket is unavoidable: Georgia State Parks listed the adult rate at $12 at the time of writing, and those figures change.

Where to stand

Walk rather than drive for the last stretch. The compression that makes the avenue look like a tunnel happens when you are low and central and some way down it, and you cannot compose that from a moving car. Step off the road when a car comes, and do not park in the middle of the avenue to set up, because on a busy morning there is a queue behind you.

Etiquette, including the one that matters most

Wormsloe House is a private residence with a family living in it. Photograph the avenue and the ruins as much as you like; do not go up to the house, and do not treat somebody’s home as a backdrop. Beyond that it is ordinary courtesy: keep out of other people’s frames as you would want them to keep out of yours, and if you are working with a tripod, set it where it is not blocking the road. The reason there is no house to photograph up close is on the house question.

Arriving early without the driving

Tours run to their own timetable, so a self-drive is the only way to guarantee yourself the first hour. If the driving is the problem, the six-hour trip from Savannah that includes Wormsloe and Bonaventure Cemetery, from $59 and rated 4.8 across 285 reviews, is the one bookable tour that comes inside the gate.

Frequently asked questions