Spring into Life: How to Photograph Spring

Springtime has always inspired creative people from Shakespeare, Blake and Wordsworth to Dickinson and Frost. The sights and smells of spring can convey incredibly positive vibes – the bleak monotone silhouettes of winter have passed and new buds come to life with the lengthening days.

Abundant blossoms and emerging flowers do not just attract insects, but photographers too. For photographers, spring provides a great opportunity to get creative and make the most of a wide natural pallet of colours and interesting light.

The Early Worm

Timing in spring is everything. The morning mists, frosts and dews can make some fantastically atmospheric shots. If you’re not a morning person then going out at dusk with a good exposure setting can also help create some fascinating sunsets and moonrises. A tripod is a must in this case.

While we’re talking about light, for the best effects how about back-lighting the flower you’re hoping to shoot with sunlight? That can give it a real ‘heavenly’ effect.

A Closer Look

Spring is full of small things, capturing these in isolation can make a really interesting portrait. Think about closing in on ‘delicate’ things, such as a dew drop or flower synonymous with the season. What about creating an ensemble to focus on, such as a bunch of daffodils against a plain white background for that true microstock effect?

The Bigger Picture

If you’re looking at making a bigger portrait, think about using nature to the max. Ploughed fields and rows of crops can make great shots. What about isolating a tractor or farmhouse? Think about a big, blue sky and contrasting it with the rich colour of the land; green leaves and woodland, or brown and red earth. Also, don’t leave your long lens behind to capture the abundance of wildlife on show.

If you’re a photographer, you’ll love the opportunities presented by spring and, from a microstock perspective, the great news is that people are looking to buy images of the nascent season for use in blogs, articles and promotional material.

If you’re looking to buy ready-made images of spring then Polylooks has more than 15,000 images related to spring in its extensive portfolio.

Romantic Vision: Black and White Tips

Just one of the romantic images in the Polylooks database

Valentine’s Day is not far away, prompting a rise in demand for romantic images to accompany articles, blogs and marketing materials. As well as red hearts and cupids, nothing captures the romance of Valentine’s Day like a black and white photo.

Despite its origins, black and white photography is rarer nowadays than the more commonplace colour image, making it more unique and, in the absence of colour, heightens the emotional context. That’s why so many wedding photos are still taken in black and white, even though colour photography has been widely available for decades. It adds an air of mystery and nostalgia.

Top Tips

Firstly, when shooting black and white photos, don’t set your camera to black and white if your camera gives you the option – shoot in colour on the RAW format and convert to black and white using a photo editing suite to avoid any potential loss of quality.

If you’re looking to capture romance in black and white, think about your composition. What do you want to use to illustrate romance? Is it couples? Rings? Hearts? If it’s a portrait, really narrow the field to focus the viewer’s eye on the core elements.

Contrast is an essential part of taking black and white images. When colour is taken out of the equation the focus shifts towards light intensity, so contrast really helps your image stand out.

The use of light is critical when shooting black and white. Romantic shots need to be sensual, not necessarily bright but, when using shadows, don’t make them too gloomy. That’s the challenge with black and white photography – finding the right balance – you don’t want a white out in the same way as you need to avoid overshadowing.

With black and white photography you can do so much more with texture than with colour, because the eye is forced to focus more keenly in the absence of colour. Play around with soft settings if you’re looking for that slushy feel!

Shopping for Images

If you’re looking to buy black and white images for Valentine’s Day, or any other event for that matter, make sure you log onto Polylooks.co.uk and use the colour and emotion filters available on the site to select the right look and feel for you. Also, use key search words such as ‘love’, ‘romance’ and ‘Valentine’s Day’ to ensure you get a wide choice of relevant stock images.

Then you can start looking forward to using microstock images in your features, blogs, or – if you purchase the merchandise license – to use commercially, such as creating gift cards.

Polylooks has nearly half a million images on offer so there’s plenty of choice!

Golden Brown: Capturing Autumn’s Glory

“Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun,” – this is how the poet John Keats captured autumn in words.  With golden leaves, ripened fruit and long shadows, autumn is also a fantastic season to capture on camera. Added to this we have colourful events, like Halloween and Guy Faulkes’ Night.

At this time of year publishers want pictures of autumnal scenes; yellow leaves, lingering sunsets, illuminated pumpkins. Polylooks has an extensive store of images for publishers to find their ideal shot to best encapsulate the season of autumn in all its glory. Have a search through www.polylooks.co.uk to find your perfect image. On Polylooks you can also search by colour scheme and emotion, which helps you slender down your options.

If you’re a professional or keen amateur photographer, you’ll already know how great autumn looks through a lens. Why not submit your pictures to Polylooks? There are three main types that really grab publishers’ attention:

An Autumnal Landscape

Landscape: The ghostly mists and playful colours of autumn make a forest or parkland scene perfect for publishers. Pick a clear day to get an atmospheric shot.

A Seasonal Portrait Shot

Portrait: Autumn is fun! Why not shoot families or children enjoying the crunchy leaves or dressing up for Halloween? Remember, if taking pictures of people you need the express permission of all identifiable persons in the image in the form of a model release.

 

Composition: Autumn is synonymous with the richness of harvest: apples, pears, nuts. Creating a composition of the

A Composition

season’s bounty could make an attractive photo for potential buyers.

We hope you enjoy autumn. Whether you’re searching for images for publishing and merchandise use, or a photographer thinking of getting into microstock photography, visit Polylooks.co.uk and see what we have on offer.

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