Of course, now everyone is thinking about winter and the upcoming holidays, but it’s so nice to remember the warm spring weather. The day is getting longer and the outdoors is fabulously beautiful, what better reason to arm your camera and head out to take pictures, using the full potential of your camera? Spring is a great time to experiment with your camera and simultaneously improve the skills you already have. So hurry up and grab your camera and run outside. By the way, if you don’t know which lens is better and you’re thinking about a 35mm lens vs 50mm, then you can read this article on Skylum’s blog.
Choose the right camera settings
The rich colors of flowers and plants in spring and summer draw photographers to gardens and forests like magnets. Their intense hues and variety of colors create a very pleasing picture for the human eye. If you want to pay tribute to the beauty of flowers and capture them on your camera, then try to set it accordingly.
You have to be very careful about how you focus and adjust the aperture so that only the elements that you think are important in the frame are in the zone of focus. Among all possible modes in this situation, the aperture priority mode is the most suitable. Use a tripod so that the camera instability doesn’t affect the sharpness of the picture.
Choose the most suitable lens
Macro lenses are of course ideal for close-up subject matter and photography. But to be honest, you can get great pictures of wild and cultivated plants with lenses with different focal length ranges. For example, a zoom lens is great for taking pictures of flowerbeds or the already mentioned wild bells, simply because it can visually compress the distance between flowers.
But wide-angle lenses also do their part. For example, if you get the camera close enough to your subject, a wide-angle lens can bring the surrounding landscape into the frame and still display plants in such a way that they dominate the foreground.
Take control
Let’s review this important point together in sequence:
- It’s easiest to shoot in well-organized gardens. In such gardens the plants are planted in a certain order, as a result, from certain angles, the garden looks as a whole. But in your garden, you are likely to have to try hard to make a decent picture. And the secret often lies in the need to simplify the frame as much as possible, getting rid of unnecessary elements.
- It is almost impossible to photograph a whole flowerbed organically because of all the distracting elements, which add up to a hodgepodge of images. In spring, when many plants are just starting to come back to life, it is best to photograph flowers one by one.
- Don’t forget that each flower is a small component of the whole garden, which is what transforms everything around it. You can photograph large flowers with your standard zoom lens. However, buying a macro lens will allow you to fill the entire frame with smaller flowers and plants.
The way to have a good shot is to have complete control over your surroundings and the technique you use.
Lighting in the spring garden
A bright sunny day is usually not the best time to photograph flowers and plants. Light coming through the clouds gives the best results. Diffused light illuminates plants evenly and promotes natural color reproduction. However, you can take advantage of direct sunlight if you want to emphasize the structure of the flower and show the translucency of its leaves and petals.
If the sky is suddenly covered in clouds, that’s no reason to take your camera away right now. And you must agree that a cloudy sky looks much more expressive in photos than an endless blue expanse. Lots of gloomy gray clouds can create a different, more melancholy mood, though. Just wait for a moment when a ray of sunlight suddenly bursts through the clouds to light up the landscape. Photographs taken at that moment are always impressive.
Black and white
The combination of the hues of nature in spring gives a great picture, so why lose all those colors? The answer is simple – to convey mood, to increase impact. Start experimenting with converting your photos and you’ll get even bolder results. For example, a spring nature photo in cloudy weather looks already spectacular, and monochrome colors further emphasize the drama in the picture.
Take pictures of animals
Finding photogenic and cute creatures outside of the countryside in spring is easy. So arm yourself with your best zoom lens and go on a photo hunt. Don’t get too close to the animals, make your movements smooth and slow. Lower yourself down gently so that the camera is at eye level.
With side lighting or backlighting, you can accentuate the animal’s fur, which will turn into a glowing halo. If you are even more adventurous and adventurous, you can try your luck and take pictures of nimble animals like rabbits and pheasants. When it comes to wildlife photography, one of the main weapons is patience. We have to wait for that one moment when the light will fall exactly the way we want it to, and when the animals will turn their heads in our direction.
The power of photo editor
Post-processing will help you get the most spectacular and dramatic shots. You don’t have to open good old Photoshop, try something new. We recommend using such modern photo editor as Luminar Neo, it is very popular now among beginners and professionals of photography.
Understanding the interface of the program is not difficult, in addition, the site of the Skylum developer has a lot of training materials and useful information. For example, you can read about the advantages of a 35mm lens vs 50mm and discover something new.
