Simple Photography Tips - wild flowers photography - Wild garlic

Seven free simple photography tips for you - wild flowers photography - spring flowers with your phone camera or camera - Allium ursinum

• Most wild garlic is in woodland, and as the trees gain their leaves, the light levels can be challenging.

• Check that the right part of your image is in focus

• If using a camera, choose aperture carefully for the best depth of field

• Choose your subject carefully, there are usually flowers that stand out due to their position and the light.

• Beware of flare when shooting into the sun even in woodland

• Landscape shots with carpets of flowers need practise to get the composition right

• Have fun, and if you're out of an evening, use the late evening sunlight to dramatic effect

  
  

Taking a walk in our local nature reserve at this time of year is an amazing visual and aural experience. The ground beneath the mixed woodland trees, is carpeted with swathes of wild flowers.

This is my favourite time of year, the early spring flowers like Snowdrops have faded and are disappearing back into the ground whence they came. They've been replaced, dominantly by Primroses and Celandines, which are at their peak now.

On a walk early yesterday morning, there peeking from the massed leaves were two stems of Ransomes - otherwise known as Wild Garlic Allium ursinum

This marks the real start of the woodland flower season, and if you are lucky enough to live near, or visit, such places at this time of year, do spend some time taking pictures.

But first of all, just stand and stare, walk slowly, and relish the sight of the plants and trees, and listen to the sound of the woodland birds.

Image One - first wild garlic flowers of the year, with wonderful gentle light

Image One, that beautiful moment when you spy the 'first of the year' be it a wood anemone, bluebell or whatever. The light was quite enchanting as it happened, the sun was just about up, but quite weak, with the result that the petals were not 'burnt-out' as they were later. The charm here is I think that the light on the anthers was enough to make them stand out.

The placing of the 'in-focus' flower on the intersecting third, adds to the power of the image.

Image Two - first wild garlic flowers of the year, with bright low angle sunlight

Image Two, is taken on macro, and is almost too close for the lens to work properly. Pulling back a little would perhaps have done away with the almost pixellated effect.

Image Three - first wild garlic flowers of the year, with bright low angle sunlight, and leaves as backdrop

Image three, I've pulled up a fair way to give the flowers a degree of context, with the bright almost fleshy leaves and understorey.

Image Four - first wild garlic flowers of the year, with bright low angle early morning sunlight, and leaves as backdrop

With the fourth image, I responded to the bank of garlic leaves as a backdrop, enhanced by the light shining through them. But do beware of getting flare.

Image Five -wild garlic Allium ursinum, woodland setting, main flowering phase, with bluebells Hyacinthoides non-scripta

I love Image Five! It was taken last year in the middle of the bluebell season, during the height of it's flowering season. As you can see much of the understorey of hazel has come into leaf, and it's a misty morning, giving huge character to the image.

As an aside from simple photography tips about wild flowers photgraphy, if you live anywhere where this grow, and you're allowed to, the leaves make magnificent pesto, are wonderful with pasta, and a great addition to an early salad. Indeed, between the last sentance and these I've prepared a lunch of winter leaves, and an omelette of organic purple spouting broccoli, goats cheese and wild garlic. It was pretty good!