Photographing snowdrops

Photographing flowers in the wild seems like a simple thing. There's no need to carry huge lenses, you don't have to sneak up or direct your subject and you can spend as long or as little as you like photographing them. However, there are a few other problems you have to address especially with a subject like snowdrops. They are small and bloom when it is cold, hence the technical challenge.


Gear needs
To get close enough to a snowdrop you can use a macro lens or a telezoom lens with an extension tube. Ideally, you need to be working at the same height as the snowdrops so you'll be working close to the ground which will make it difficult to use the viewfinder so LiveView or a product such as ZigView Live would be useful as you'll be able to see what the viewfinder sees without actually having to use it. To get good depth-of-field you need a small f/stop, which means you need a long exposure and as a result, you'll need a tripod. A tripod will help reduce camera shake but you'll need to splay the legs and, if possible, adjust the centre column from vertical to horizontal to get closer to the ground. The camera's self-timer or even a cable release will also help you keep your shots steady. Having a waterproof sheet to lay on or a mat to kneel on would be a useful as the ground will be wet and sitting on damp soil for long periods of time isn't a pleasant experience. Kneeling pads, the sort gardeners use are handy too and make life more bearable.


Techniques to try
A problem all flower photographers face is wind and since you'll be often using long exposures the slightest breeze blowing across the snowdrop can cause movement and blur. Even though we'd like to, we don't have the power to control the weather so wind is something we just have to be patient with and wait to pass by. You can also use small pieces of wire to steady the flower but if you do this remember to remove the wire when finished and don't leave any rubbish lying around. Another gadget would-be flower shooters should consider is the Wimberley Plamp. It costs £29.31 from Warehouse Express.

Once you've found your snowdrops and are set-up on the ground, take time to look through the viewfinder or use your LiveView, move the camera and have a play with the focus to find interesting shots. There are various ways you can photograph snowdrops to give your images a different look or feel. You can get down close, eye to eye to see what makes them special, focus on the tiny green patterns that tip the petals or go wide and fill the frame with their all consuming expansiveness. There's plenty for you to have a go at but here are some ideas to get you started:

Selective focus: Find a snowdrop that has distinctive features or you just like the look of that doesn't have anything in the background or foreground and shoot a shot that's completely isolated. By doing this you'll have a background that's far out of focus and not distracting for the viewer. To do this you need good depth-of-field that blurs the background but yet keeps the flower sharp and starting at f/8 and experiment from there.

Head only: Take your focus in even further and solely focus your attention on the head, cutting the steam and any other distracting objects completely out of the frame.

Centre of attention: If you find a group of snowdrops find one or two in the centre that you want to be the focus of the image and use the other snowdrops surrounding it to create a out of focus frame. Out of focus snowdrops can also be used to create a white backdrop to add an interesting twist to an image where we usually expect to see a green background. You can also have a single snowdrop pin-sharp at the top of the image and use a narrow depth-of-field to blur all the snowdrops in front of it to create an almost filter blur.

f/2.8, 1/800, ISO200.

Image filler: Instead of having an empty background tryi using a second flower to fill the image. You don't want this flower to distract from the snowdrop intended as your subject so adjust accordingly to blur to second flower out of focus.

f/2.8, 1/640, ISO200.

Shoot after a rainstorm: Working with macro lenses means you can capture raindrops that gather on snowdrop heads and leaves. When doing this, try capturing the flower from more of an angle to get more drops in shot and to give them a more dynamic feel.

f/7.0, 1/100, ISO200.