Photography in Spring

Gear:

• Wide angle lens – for sweeping landscapes and shooting up into leafy forest canopy
• Macro lens – use to capture dew drops
• Tripod – Vanguard's Alta Pro 263AGH is light-weight and its rotating centre column will get you closer to the Spring flowers.
• ND grey graduated filter/polarising filter

Technique:

Landscapes
Spring landscapes have a fresh greenness about them that work well when sat against a blue sky. To add extra punch, fit a polarising filter which will also reduce the glare from shiny wet leaves. Look out for ploughed fields as the rows of strong green vegetation sat against the darker soil create great graphical shapes when shot from a distance. Give your wide angled landscapes foreground interest that will either compliment the background or go for something strong and bold to create a striking image.

Mornings
Daylight begins to creep in at a more accommodating time than in the summer so take advantage of it and shoot some sunrises. The air's cleaner at this time of day so the colours will have more punch and as daytime and night time temperatures are still very different, fog/mist will still be hanging around. Cliff tops are a perfect place to head to as they give you great vantage points over valleys which hold the mist/fog like a bowl or try getting in among it in a forest to add a touch of mysticism to your work. Just remember that fog acts like a soft box and can lower the contrast of your surroundings which can leave you with rather long exposure times so have your tripod to hand. Your camera may also have a few exposure problems and as a result, you'll have to use + exposure compensation to rectify this. If your skies end up looking a little washed out try fitting a neutral density grey graduated filter.

Dew
There's still the chance that morning frost with its crystalline structure is still around for you to shot some abstract shots of but if not, turn your attention to due. Get in close with your macro lens and capture blades of grass, cobwebs, and leaf edges. Make sure your camera is fastened to a tripod as any camera movement will be very noticeable and if you need a little more light, use a small reflector or a white piece of card to bounce light into the scene. A mid-range aperture will give you a decent depth of field throwing the background out of focus while the subject stays ultra sharp.

Trees
When you use a wide angle lens to photograph buildings or trees converging verticals can be a problem however, if you turn your lens so you're shooting up towards the canopy the convergence can work to your advantage. With a wide angle lens the trees will converge together giving your shot impact and an unusual twist on nature photography. It works particularly well in spring as the leaves have a fresh green bite to them which when positioned against a bright blue sky, gives you the ingredients for a colourful, almost abstract spring shot. If you don't want to work hand-held jamb a beanbag against the trunk and shoot straight up into the branches using f/11 or f/18 to get more of the tree in focus.

Don't forget about the Spring flowers that are starting to pop their heads up above the ground. A crisp shot of a flower framed by a blurry background's always guaranteed to look good.

Find the tripod and camera bag to suit your needs at www.vanguardworld.com