Spring Photography

This post concentrates on the particular opportunities and challenges of learning photography in the spring.

I’m trying to get into a habit of posting quarterly reviews of images created during the last season. So this post covers the period since my Winter 2018 review. My learning strategy of 10,000 hours of deliberate practice in the art of photography means that I should be able to compare the post I write after next spring with this one, and hopefully see the progress I’m making.

Bluebells under trees in forest - Learning Photography in the Spring — Bluebells, first sign of spring – Rowley Wood, Wexham

The mood of Spring is one of optimism, renewal and rebirth. I hope I have captured this during the last few months.

See all my images from Spring 2018, I have tried to include a variety of images to include some street photography, seascapes and more interesting landscapes.

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Spring Flowers

Close-up of part blown dandelion seed head with great seed detail — Spring flowers: Buttercups and Dandelion still sporting the morning dew.

Tips:

Keep the scene as simple as possible; “less is more”
early morning dew and cobwebs add interest
Close-up and macro shots require a small aperture to provide a depth of field that will cover both front and back of the bud.

Seascapes

Seascape at Sunrise Minehead — Sunset Minehead Sea Front – Manually produced HDR

The goal is to capture the mood of the place by showing as little detail as possible, maximum abstraction in the landscape. The above shot was achieved by manually blending two images to achieve an HDR. For details see: Journal Entry.

In-land Water

Semi-abstract reflections and reeds in water — Reeds in Lake – Minimalist Abstraction

Repton Bridge, Stoke Park Club — Bridge shot Contre-jour, high contrast silhouette, NOT converted to B&W

Orange swan beak contrasting against a blue lake background — Serene Colour Study – Swan and Water

Street Photography

These guys were just walking along the street in Seville during Semana Santa looking as though they were doing a fashion shoot for Vogue.

Four Spanish people walking on a road — Well dressed residents of Seville, Spain during Semana Santa.

The above needed quite a bit of post-production to calm the background and manage the effects of the harsh midday sun. Looks as though it was lit with a mighty fill-in flash, or better a reflector; actually just lightened in photoshop.

References:

As I mentioned at the top of this post, I hope to write a similar post next year with the goal of monitoring the progress I’m making.

If you have any comments on this post, please post them below.

To see more posts on other photographic topics, or to follow my learning progress, please like or follow me on the social media channel of your choice to the right.