Go for a Blossom Walk
… pic or it never happened.
While we’ve encouraged you to leave your phone behind (or at least silent in your pocket) as much as possible, today it’s their time to shine. Blossom is the perfect subject to practice your photography skills. Colourful, full of texture and movement – and only there for a while, makes it even more special.
Your challenge is to get some really lovely shots of all that lovely blossom that’s around at the moment.
How to Take Really Good Photos of Blossom with Your Smartphone
#1 Choose a sunny day.
It sounds obvious, but blue skies beautifully set off the bright colours of blossoms and grass. There’s nothing subtle about blossom photos – they’re all about vibrant colour and pizzazz.
#2 Use the rule of thirds.
Divide your screen into a grid of nine squares (in your mind or ideally, if your phone has a grid setting) and line the blossom up along one of the lines or at one of the intersections. This is what the pros do, and it will create a more balanced and interesting composition.
#3 Avoid zooming in too much.
Rookie error. Your smartphone camera may lose quality and detail when you zoom in. Instead, better to get closer or crop your photo later.
#4 Get arty.
Experiment with interesting angles and perspectives. Try taking photos from above, below, behind or in front of the blossom. Get down low, climb up high (safely) and think about how to look at the scene in a new way.
#5 Use a tripod or a stable surface.
This will help you avoid blurry photos caused by shaky hands or wind. You can also use a timer or a remote control to take photos without touching your phone.
#6 Post-production.
I love Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom for editing photos, but the learning curve is much too steep for the occasional hobbyist. There are, however, a plethora of apps and editing software which will fix/modify your shots at the click of a button. You will have one already installed on your phone.
So when you’ve chosen a photo you like, give it a little love and care by cropping, adjusting, and bringing out its best features.
Bonus: Take some time to identify what kind of tree the blossom is on for bonus points.
Great apps for this are:
- PictureThis
- PlantNet
- PlantSnap
- iNaturalist
- Leafsnap
- GardenAnswers
- What’s That Flower
- Pl@ntNet
- Planta
You can also use Google Lens for blossom identification:
- Open Google Lens and permit camera access.
- Point your camera at the blossom and tap the shutter to search.
- Review the main result, related content, and similar images.
- Tap the main photo for a detailed Google search result.
The next time you walk past with someone else, you’ll be super knowledgeable and interesting – and who knows, it could be the start of a new hobby in nature photography.