Spring is the time to shoot flowers in bloom, and a sea of bluebells in a forest are a real favourite of mine. It all comes down to a great location and soft sunlight when you’re photographing bluebells in woods. Plus some key Canon camera skills, of course!
It’s taken me a few years to find the best location in our local area. Although several woods near me have bluebells, it wasn’t until last year that I found this fantastic forest on top of a hill, with big blankets of bluebells filling large areas of the forest floor.
For the best, densely populated areas of bluebells, you ideally need forests with thinner trees and less foliage lower down their trunks. This enables sunlight to reach the flowers so they bloom and flourish in Spring. Bluebells in the UK usually flower around late March to mid May, but it varies depending how mild it is come Spring. But you need to be quick! As soon as the forest canopies start to grow new leaves, the bluebells won’t get enough sunlight, and quickly disappear.
It’s best to find a forest that has defined edges, so the sun reaches inside to light the flowers, and also so that you’re not shooting inside a dark wood, and get a nicer, more photogenic and atmospheric scene.
You’ll also need to nail your Canon camera skills, using the right aperture and focal length, bracketing your exposures, and get your composition right for the best shots, as I show you over the following pages...
CANON SETUP SHOOT BLUEBELL FOREST SCENES
Learn the crucial Canon camera settings and lens tips for stunning flowery forest shots
SHOOT INTO THE SUNLIGHT
This story is from the Spring 2023 edition of PhotoPlus : The Canon Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the Spring 2023 edition of PhotoPlus : The Canon Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Speed up editing with recipes
Edit a single photo and apply processing settings to pictures taken at the same time
PHOTOSTORIES
World Unseen - Canon’s incredible World Unseen campaign opens up the world of photography to the visually impaired
MATTHEW PERKS
Matthew Perks is a talented lifestyle photographer whose passion has evolved next to his career in engineering. He sees processing photos as a balance of inspiration and instinct…
Perfect your colours with HSL
James Paterson enhances colours in Affinity with HSL
Turn the noise down with Denoise AI
James Paterson shows you how to use Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw AI to fix noisy images and improve quality
Go vintage with a Wet Plate effect
Sean McCormack shows you how to give your images a unique look by emulating the historic wet plate effect
Playing with shadows
Dan Mold’s three easy one-light B&W portrait set-ups to follow at home
Hit the streets with your Canon camera
Next time you’re in a big city be sure to try out these fun techniques for creative cityscape shots
A place in the sun
Learn key Canon camera skills for stunning silhouette portraits, then stitch them together for a striking image that will turn heads
Vive Loire Valley rally
An unexpected change in the weather forces a race against the sun to shoot Chambord