Spring Bluebells

At last - the winter is over and the spring flowers are starting to bloom. This is my favourite time of year, full of hope and looking forward to longer hours of sunlight, some warmth and just being able to get out more in nature.

In the south of England, we are lucky to have slightly warmer weather and this means we get Bluebells slightly earlier in the season, about the end of March. Near to where I live is Royal Victoria Country Park and there is a lovely old woodland where we're lucky enough to have a wide carpet of blue flowers, before the trees thicken with leaves. 

Shafts of warm sunlight stream through the trees and create an atmospheric scene, perfect for some photography. Because of the dappled light in the woodland, I choose a fairly fast colour film, like Kodak Ultra Max 400. It enables the light meter in the camera to still set a small enough aperture, something like f8, to give me the depth of field I want. 

The Trip's 40mm lens has a close focus distance of just under a meter, so you can get some nice detail shots of flowers too. Of course you can get even closer with a close-up lens attached, down to about 30cm. 

I can't think of a better way to enjoy an early spring day than walking in the woods with the family, enjoying the fresh air and spending quality time together. Bringing the camera just adds a creative element to the walk; really taking the colour in and looking for shafts of light to create beautiful images that will give you memories to share. 

These photos were taken last spring and I look back fondly, remembering my time with my son, Adam and my wife. Adam has since moved to Canada and we miss him. We're lucky to be visiting him this May - I will of course be taking some more photos of our trip!

Take my advice; get outdoors with your family and your camera and look for special places to enjoy precious time together.