Photographing Snowdrops

Light – Camera -Angle

I often get people asking for advice when taking photographs so I thought I’d just share a few ideas today. I love Spring flowers and bulbs they are just so beautiful and full of hope. Due to the recent mild weather it appears that UK snowdrops are out in all their glory.

On a practical note I always wear old jeans when I set off to photograph snowdrops as I have to kneel down to get the shots I want. I take a black sack or carrier bag with me so I have something to kneel on if it’s really muddy.

I make sure I’m warm enough – if I’m cold, the slightest shiver can make my photos blurry as I often shoot at f2.8 to get the bokeh or blurred background that I want.

Light

Finding my light is important and I often shoot into the light as I like the backlit effect and the often ‘dreamy’ quality that this gives me. I spot meter on the actual white of the petals so I can be sure that I don’t blow out the highlights.

Camera

I shoot in Manual as this gives me control over the lighting – I do use my ISO to ensure that I have a fast enough shutter speed whilst keeping the aperture that I want.

Angle

I always shoot snowdrops ‘straight on’ wherever I can – this often means kneeling or crouching down but sometimes you can be lucky and find some growing on a banking which will save your back!

If I just shoot a clump of snowdrops they can look messy so I look for a single bud or a clump which I can isolate – this gives me a clearer focal point for my image. Bear in mind your background too – in the shot below the pink cyclamens added some colour without taking the focus from the clump of snowdrops.

Abstract

If I want an abstract shot I will just play around with putting my camera almost on the floor in the middle of flowers and simply press the shutter – I can’t see what i’m taking so 9 times out of 10 the shots are awful but occasionally the results are ‘interesting’