Bluebells

looksee

I've tried history but I could not find anything helpful so maybe someone may have a suggestion. We have a bluebell wood which is in fabulous flower at the moment and yesterday with the sun shining through the beech leaves the place was magical. (especially the fairy fort that is entirely covered in bluebells but impossible to photograph so you can see what it is!)

Anyway the question is - is there something difficult about photographing masses of bluebells? Daughter is a pretty good photographer and has taken some lovely pics but bluebells just don't work. They have a sort of dizzy 'out of focus' look about them, the colours are unsatisfactory. A close up of a single flower can be great, but the bluebell carpet type pic just always seems not quite right. Any suggestions? The main camera is out of commission at the moment, just a little pocket camera and the phone, but even last year the ones taken with the Canon were not all they could have been.

I don't want to put up a sample without asking her and I suspect she will not want her photos exhibited!

Any thoughts anyone?

cortinaG

As you say, you will get that out of focus, painting effect with any subject there are lots of, particularly so many bluebells, and in a dark wooded area.
I try to shoot them from low down, with a small aperture (f11) and underexpose the shot a little bit.
But yes, some post processing does help with colours, and the shadows/highlights.

Tried to upload a photo but tinypic seems to be down at the moment, see if this facebook post link works for you.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10157095382954054&set=pcb.10157095383964054&type=3&theater

looksee

Thank you, that's lovely - that looks very like our place, if somewhat tidier... Yes we could do a bit a post processing, I was going to have a go at a couple. I am a bit reassured that others find it a bit difficult. That is a very nice pic of bluebells, though to me it still has that slightly 'shifting' look that somehow you don't get just looking at them in real life, its not the camera or the photographer I think, more a bit of an optical illusion. It seems to be the particular shade of blue is the same tone as the foliage and somehow they affect each other.

cortinaG

Yes the blue does mix with the greens but the funny thing is, I saw what should have been a nice shot with bluebells and daisies but the blue ALSO blended almost seamlessly with the white
You can't win with them...





And heres an edited one with various adjustments, contrast being one of the main changes.

magicbastarder

in my experience, it's very difficult to get it looking like you remembered it without it looking overblown; your eye has a better dynamic range (IIRC) than a camera sensor, plus it's moving around the scene whereas a camera has to take it all in in one exposure.
have had a similar experience with the rhododendrons in kilmacurragh when they're on full display.

looksee

Thank you for your comments. I remembered after that my husband used get really quite good photos of bluebells using a film camera rather than a digital, I don't know if that makes a difference. I wonder is it looking at them on a computer screen (relatively low res) that is not helping?

wersal gummage

If you look up Hallerbos, it's a forest in Belgium that has lots of bluebells around this time of year. Maybe do a search in Flickr, then for the ones you like check the exif data. As always (for me anyway) these kind of landscape photos always look better at first light or sunset

JoshN1

looksee wrote: »

I've tried history but I could not find anything helpful so maybe someone may have a suggestion. We have a bluebell wood which is in fabulous flower at the moment and yesterday with the sun shining through the beech leaves the place was magical. (especially the fairy fort that is entirely covered in bluebells but impossible to photograph so you can see what it is!)

Anyway the question is - is there something difficult about photographing masses of bluebells? Daughter is a pretty good photographer and has taken some lovely pics but bluebells just don't work. They have a sort of dizzy 'out of focus' look about them, the colours are unsatisfactory. A close up of a single flower can be great, but the bluebell carpet type pic just always seems not quite right. Any suggestions? The main camera is out of commission at the moment, just a little pocket camera and the phone, but even last year the ones taken with the Canon were not all they could have been.

I don't want to put up a sample without asking her and I suspect she will not want her photos exhibited!

Any thoughts anyone?

It seems really hard to photograph! I would love to see this beauty when you are done!

CelticRambler

wersal gummage wrote: »

As always (for me anyway) these kind of landscape photos always look better at first light or sunset

Well, yes but that raises another challenge - which incidentally, I'd also considered posting as a new thread this weekend (must be something in the air! :cool:)

My query wasn't about bluebells but some kind of Swiss dandeliony thing that shivvered at even the hint of a breeze, and viewed against the sunset, created this amazing fairytale landscape in real life.



But if you use a small aperture for maximum focal range, how do you get a crisp image with a long exposure when everything's moving about?

magicbastarder

hyperfocal focussing.
do you have depth of field scales etched into your lens? they indicate depth of field at various apertures.

CelticRambler

They don't, but I learnt most of my photography on a camera that did, and I didn't know what the technique was called 'till just now, but I've been doing it for years.

But that doesn't really solve the problem of things (especially flowers and clouds) moving during the kind of long(ish) exposure that you'd need to capture detail in the shade of a forest floor, or at sunset.

magicbastarder

in short, i'd say if you can't stop things from moving during a long exposure, use that to your advantage instead of your disadvantage.

Adrian.Sadlier

I went up to Derreen Woods in Roscommon to shoot the bluebells this morning. They look stunning at the moment.



Derreen Wood Bluebells by Adrian Sadlier, on Flickr