Photography blog: 14.5.09
The Bluebells, the bluebells!
They've been magnificent this year if a little earlier than usual.
Isn't it odd after all the snow we've had to see the flowers all blooming earlier?
I've been up to Ashridge to photograph the bluebells several times over the last couple of weeks, taking my family and some customers up there.
The first photograph I'd like to show you is of little Charlie Ben.
He didn't like being laid straight on the ground or on logs etc.
Kicked up a real fuss at the cold feeling of bluebell leaves, bless him.
Luckily we'd thought ahead and brought along a nice fluffy white towel for him to lie on and be wrapped in.
He got cold very quickly despite it being a lovely warm spring day so we had to take them very quickly. We got some lovely shots though.
These were taken early afternoon.
On another occasion I went up to Ashridge in the evening with a friend and took some photos just before sunset.
The bluebells look a completely different colour even in the same picture.
In the shade they look blue and in the sun mauve.
Some photographers say that it's impossible to capture the true colour of bluebells and when we were using film this might have been true but I think that digital is really good at getting the gorgeous colours, you can almost smell them.
I also took a couple of lovely girls, Hollie and Olivia up to Ashridge.
Their mum was given a gift voucher by her cousin for a photo shoot with me and decided she'd like some photos of her girls in the bluebells to 'replicate' some she had taken when they were small.
We had a great time and the bluebells really were at their best.
One tip for taking photos of bluebells, to make them look really intense is to squat down lower when you're taking them.
Settings – It's difficult to say exactly what settings you should use because of varying light conditions but to keep a photo sharp when you're taking a photo outside you need to use a faster speed so that you freeze movement.
Most of these will have been taken at higher than 1/125.
You can experiment and get some interesting shots if you put your camera on a tripod (to avoid shake) and slow it right down so that movement it leaves and branches show.
For close-ups you need a wide aperture to blow out the background (remember wide is a low number).
If you can't get the speed you want at the aperture you want you will need to up your ISO. Try up to 800 ISO.
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Weather for Tring
Tuesday 07 February 2012
Today
Light snow
Temperature: -7 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -6 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: North east
