First off, this is not a How to Photograph Bluebells post. To title it as such would give the impression that this is the only way to capture these beautiful flowers. Instead, this is simply how I go about it along with some, I hope, useful hints and tips that will help you along your way in recording bluebells in your own, unique fashion.
It's that time of the year when woodlands in the UK are awash with the scent and sight of our most iconic wildflower, the bluebell. But, photographing bluebells can be surprisingly tricky. For one thing, there are just so many of them? How on earth do you isolate a single bloom or, furthermore, encapsulated in a single frame that incredible scene of a forest floor covered in blue? It's little wonder that close-up and landscape photographers alike have enormous difficulties in capturing the very essence of that special day in a bluebell wood.
In this short article, I'll touch upon a few points that over the course of 30+ years have helped me in securing a number of very pleasing and different images of bluebells. And please feel free to either leave a comment at the end (which I shall definitely respond to) or send me an email here where I'll be more than happy to answer any questions you might have.
Isolation
Let's start by first looking at isolating a single bloom. By far the simplest way to work is to look on the margins where single flowers are more likely to be separated from the others. Once a suitable specimen has been located a lens of 100mm upwards will isolate the flower and with a wide aperture setting (f/2.8 for example) will throw both background and foreground elements out of focus. The further the flower is away from the background the easier it is to render it out of focus. You'll struggle if it's surrounded by others just inches away so it's worth taking your time to find a well placed flower.
When your goal is to produce an image which is sharp throughout, it's imperative to get the camera as parallel as possible to the stem and arc of the flower. This is when a tripod really comes into its own since making micro-adjustments while hand-holding the camera can be very tiring and not nearly as accurate. Once the camera's squared up, you'll be surprised at how wide you can set the aperture while still retaining sharpness.
Reflector
One of the most useful items a close-up photographer can possess is a reflector. It need not be anything commercially bought or substantial. I tape a piece of foil onto a couple of pieces of A5 card which do a remarkable job of bouncing light into the darker parts of the flower and which were used on both of the above images.
Time of day
It matters not when you head out for interesting images can be made at any time of the day, and although shooting during the 'golden hour' will often add that extra special something to your photographs, as long as you wander with an open mind and are open to interpretation, your photographs will be imaginative and thoughtful, regardless of when you make them.
Differential focus
Sooner or later you'll become weary of using your three-legged friend and will want to explore more creative possibilities. There's no denying that tripods are extremely useful in flower photography but they are by no means essential and can even stifle your creativity. Hand-holding a camera enables you to freely move around your subject and seek out unusual viewpoints and angles that would be unlikely if you were to be using a tripod.
There's simply no substitute for a fast medium-telephoto lens if you want to produce shallow depth of field photographs. An f/5.6 zoom just won't cut the mustard and you'll be working very hard indeed to get anything close to what can be achieved with a faster optic. But, you need not go out and spend a fortune on a macro lens as there are ways and means of getting your fast lens to focus more closely such as using extension tubes and close-up supplementary lenses which cost a fraction and do an amazing job. Furthermore, consider purchasing an old prime lens and using an adaptor to fit your modern camera. I often use a 40-year-old Soligor 135mm f/2.8 lens (purchased from ebay for £150) fitted to my Nikon D850 using an M42 screw thread-Nikon adaptor which cost just a few pounds on Amazon. It may not be as sharp as a modern macro but it produces beautiful bokeh and orange flares when shooting into the sun.
Hand-holding made easy
By way of the very fact that you are using a wide aperture to soften your foreground and background, as a consequence, your shutter speed will be quite high making it possible to handhold the camera without too much fear of camera shake. First of all, switch on Image Stabilise/Vibration Reduction. Then, set your lens to its maximum aperture and your ISO to a setting that gives you a hand-holdable shutter speed. IS and VR will really help with this but remember you may also have to contend with the breeze. I rarely use a speed of less than 1/100th second and worry not what my ISO is as I am more concerned with the photo's aesthetics than I am with pixels! So, don't be concerned if you have to shoot at ISO 400, 800 or even 1600. Exploring and being creative are far more important.
I think a great many photographers are guilty of clearing any obscuring vegetation without first considering the artistic possibilities.
I cannot emphasise enough the importance of keeping to the path and resisting the temptation to photograph, for example, that albino bluebell 20 feet in. It's a sad sight seeing extensive areas of flattened bluebells where for the sake of a photo folk have placed their children or have let their dog off the lead which then run about trampling these delicate flowers. If a bluebell's leaves are crushed, they die back from lack of food as the leaves cannot photosynthesise and can take years to recover. As a whole, outdoor photographers are extremely responsible and respectful but we all need a gentle reminder from time to time :) Please, leave no trace.
For the image below I used a beanbag to support the camera and a 105mm Micro-Nikkor. Often, books and articles will advise that in order for your subject to stand out you need to shoot it against a darker or pastel background. Often, however, the opposite applies as in this case where the flower is in shade but the background is lit by the rising sun. Working at first and last light often requires you to work quickly and intuitively for it is forever changing.
One moment the flower is beautifully illuminated, and the next a nearby tree has cast its shadow. The moment is lost!
Below. When using a telephoto lens (in this case a 200mm) it's surprising just how quickly the sun sinks and how with every few seconds I was having to shuffle the tripod to get both the flower and that which is silhouetted in just the right position.
Alternatively, rather than looking for silhouettes you can go the other way and blow the background out completely. For the image below, I exposed for the shadows requiring +3 stops additional exposure.
Arh, the classic scene of the sun rising/setting in a bluebell wood with the tree's shadows radiating towards the camera. It's been done a million times before and there's nothing new here but it's still worth taking! Much like visiting Durdle Door, get the iconic view in the bag first and then look for something different.
For the image below I fitted the camera with a wide-angle lens to a fully extended tripod and hoisted it up into the air to get this higher perspective.
I then went a step further, and over the course of the next few days instead used a monopod taped to an extendable pole giving me several metres of elevation.
ICM and multiple exposure
Such woodlands are fantastic places for ICM and multiple exposure, and once you've succeeded in producing one decent image it's hard to stop! For ICM, set your camera up to give you a shutter speed of around 1/2 to 1 second and smoothly move it down (or up) during the exposure. It takes a bit of practice but after a while, you'll begin to feel what works for you and which subjects are suitable. The same woodland in autumn, for example, using the same technique would look equally entrancing.
And, then there are multiple exposures of which there are endless possibilities. Overlapping bluebells onto tree bark and spring leaves onto the flowers are all ideas worthy of exploration and with digital capture we can review and tweak as we go.
For the below image I took two in-camera multiple-exposures, immediately one after the other with one in sharp focus and the other out. The result is this lovely dreamy, ethereal effect.
And, when the sun sets and darkness falls upon the wood, continue shooting until you can see no more. Squeeze out every moment and exhaust every possibility until finally putting your camera away and heading home.
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