Summer presents photographers with the chance to enjoy the colours and textures that come from flowers, leaves and fruit.
Many of us will now be enjoying to those long summer days when it's light from the early hours to late in the evenings. Hopefully they will be accompanied by warm sunshine and dry days to enable us to explore the beauty of the countryside. Though for those of us who are keen to record what we see, this time of year is not without its problems.
The sun is high in the sky from early in the day, and often throws strong shadows that create intense levels of contrast between areas in shadow and those in direct sunlight. Perhaps some photographers would rather it were slightly overcast to reduce those shadows.
However, mother nature has a mind of her own and so we must turn this challenge to our advantage and practice skills such as shooting into the sunlight (contre-jour) or using it as backlighting, especially effective when working on close-up images of flowers and leaves. For those who rise early or stay on late in the evening this is less of a problem and we can enjoy the light that is generated in those magical hours.
This time of year, after the rush of spring with new life emerging all around us, we are presented with the fruits of that rush and can begin to enjoy the glorious colours, tones and textures that come from the flowers, leaves and fruit. In addition we see the trees of our countryside in full leaf, flowers in full bloom and many textures and colours in the bark of trees and shrubs.
For me there is no better place to enjoy this spectacle than at The National Arboretum, Westonbirt, near to Tetbury in Gloucestershire where you can enjoy over 600 acres of woodland and forestry at its best. Many of the trees and shrubs still abound with flowers, the rich tapestry of colour from the many maples are beginning to show and alongside that you have large open expanses of field, open woodland and managed forestry.
For those who enjoy close-up and macro photography there are endless opportunities for capturing texture. Even with the most modest camera it is possible to select the macro or close up facility which will enable you to go in close to your subject and capture some incredible images.
The strong summer sun can be used to your advantage here if you allow it to backlight the subject and show the detail as it shines through the petals and leaves. You may find it necessary to bounce some light back into the subject to soften any shadows and a simple trick is to carry a white handkerchief and use this as a reflector. A small piece of white card or paper will do the same – no need to go out and buy those expensive and often large reflectors.
In addition close-up photography allows you to be creative in your use of "depth of field". By using a large aperture (around f.3.5 or f.4) and by careful focusing, you can select carefully what aspect of your shot you want to be sharp and then throw the rest out of focus.
Alternatively use a small aperture such as f.11 or f.16 and bring the majority of your subject into focus (to help make sure this happens select your focus point roughly a third into the scene. This same principle applies when shooting wider landscapes and the use of f.11 or f.16 should give you a sharp image across the scene.
With wider landscapes, try to bring a sense of scale into the frame by including a familiar object or two such as a seat or bench, a gate, some fencing or maybe a person. These are most effective if they are prominent in the foreground but not too dominant. You could use a path, fence, wall or hedgerow to lead you into the scene and this in turn also adds scale to the image.
A good landscape is made up of three elements – foreground, middle ground and distance and the eye needs to be taken across the scene and lead us from the foreground to the beauty of the distant scene.
• Graham is a professional photographer and runs courses and workshops in photography at Westonbirt and across the country. He is also the author of a book on Westonbirt, The National Arboretum - The Wonder and Beauty of Westonbirt.
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