How to Take More Creative Spring Landscape Photos
photo by OGphoto via iStock
Spring landscape photography is one of my favorite types of photography because, in order to shoot it, I have to get out into nature. This typically means that my son and I get to go spend all day hiking, digging around in the dirt for bugs, and just generally spending some quality time together.
However, I find that a lot of spring landscape photography looks exactly the same. It is definitely one of those photography niches that can get pretty boring if you’re just following all of the trends.
So, I recently questioned myself: how could I make spring landscape photography more intriguing?
I think I came up with a few spring photography tips that I’ve used in order to make my spring landscape photography more memorable.
Widen Your Shot
photo by eugeniek via iStock
The tendency with spring landscape photography is to put all of the focus of your image on the blooming flowers in your area. I understand why this is. Flowers can be really gorgeous and they can add a lot of depth and color to your images. But, if you only rely on this technique, then your spring landscape photography could come across as one dimensional.
In order to prevent this, you should widen your shot when you can. Including famous landmarks in your images, whether they are buildings or recognizable lakes and mountains, can help to ground your spring landscape photography. It also helps add a layer of depth to your images in much the same way as macro photography of flowers does.
Of course, when you are widening your shot, you’ll still need to be thinking about the composition of your image. Landscape photography, in particular, really relies on good composition.
Be Experimental
photo by José Antonio Luque Olmedo via iStock
One of my favorite spring landscape photography tips is to not be afraid to be a little more avante-garde with your images. I know that I definitely get caught up in following photography techniques from some of my other paying jobs, like my event photography, even when I’m shooting photos like these just for fun. This means that some of my images can come across as a little boring because I’m focusing on making them a realistic representation of what I’m capturing instead of making them interesting to look at.
Spring landscape photography is really one of the photography niches which allow you to be more experimental.
You can do this through a couple of different means. For instance, you can chase down light trails. When I’m out photographing with my son, we are usually not too far from city life because he is still a little young to do any real adventuring. This means that there are always cars in the area. I have incorporated the tail lights of cars while photographing flowers off of freeways before and this adds yet another element to my images.
Of course, you can also use motion blur to capture flowers, especially if you are photographing them on a nice, windy day. Typical spring landscape photos can look a little boring because they aren’t showcasing the way that the flora and fauna in an area are truly alive. By using motion blur, you can bring some of this life to your images.
Another option is to use refraction. This is easy to do if you are shooting your images near a large body of water, but you can also bring a crystal ball with you wherever you go to practice this fun technique.
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Capture Interesting Angles
photo by spooh via iStock
Don’t forget to use some other typical landscape photography tips while you’re out photographing springtime. For instance, you should always make sure that you’re bringing interesting angles to your images.
This is definitely easier if you have a little kiddo, like I do, because you’re likely already crawling around on the ground and climbing trees. But, bring a little bit of childlike wonder to your images by shooting from the ground and by shooting aerial shots from whatever it is you can climb in the area.
Of course, if you’re shooting macro photography, then there truly is no better angle than eye-level with your subject. If your subject is a flower, this means you better come prepared to get a little dirty. I always bring a garbage bag with me whenever I’m going out shooting so that I can lay it down on the ground if the ground is especially wet or muddy.
Bring Out Your Macro Lens During Overcast Days
photo by Peter Vahlersvik via iStock
It is a personal pet peeve of mine when photographers aren’t willing to go out shooting when the weather isn’t perfect. You may enjoy yourself more getting out into nature when it is 65 degrees and sunny, but your images, frankly, won’t look as good.
The same is true of spring landscape photography. I’ve seen hundreds of macro images of different kinds of flowers and the most interesting ones are either ones taken during golden hour or ones taken during an overcast day. Your macro flower images run the risk of looking too perfect otherwise.
These overcast days give you low contrast and even light which allows you to create exposures easily. It also allows you to prevent highlights and lowlights that are too extreme.
Of course, you shouldn’t go out shooting during overcast days without the right landscape photography gear. No shot is worth ruining your camera over.
That’s why I store my Camera Canopy in my camera bag whenever I go out shooting, even if the weather is beautiful. The Camera Canopy is a wonderful accessory that mounts directly to your camera’s hot-shoe that prevents it from getting wet in the rain or snow. It acts as a shield so that you can shoot in rain without worrying about your camera getting damaged.
The Camera Canopy comes in two sizes: one for your DSLR, which costs $90, and one for your mirrorless, which costs $60.
The Camera Canopy works with every camera. It also comes with a 30-day money back guarantee if you receive it and it isn’t what you were looking for. If you need, Camera Canopy also sells an extendable/retractable shield for shooting in the rain with a super zoom lens.
