Capture beautiful photos of bluebells in the woods this Spring before they are all gone!

Spring is the time to shoot flowers in bloom, and a sea of bluebells in a forest are a real favourite of mine to photograph in the UK. It all comes down to a great location and soft sunlight when you’re photographing bluebells in woods, and some key camera skills, of course!

It’s taken me a few years to find the best location in my local area. Although several woods near me have bluebells, it wasn’t until a few years ago that I found a fantastic forest on top of a hill, with big blankets of bluebells filling large areas of the forest floor. And this week I also discovered another new location not far from Bristol – which fast became my favourite spot!

For the best, densely populated areas of bluebells, you ideally need forests with thinner and taller trees with less foliage lower down their trunks. This enables sunlight to reach the flowers so they bloom and flourish in Spring. Bluebells in the UK usually flower around mid April to mid May, but it varies depending how mild it is come Spring.

This year they came a couple of weeks early in my part of the UK, which caught many of us landscape photographers out. Fortunately, the bluebells are still at their peak right now in many places.

So you need to be quick! As soon as the forest canopies start to grow new leaves, the bluebells won’t get enough sunlight, and quickly disappear.

It’s best to find a forest that has defined edges, so the sun reaches inside to light the flowers, and also so that you’re not shooting inside a dark wood, and get a nicer, more photogenic and atmospheric scene.

You’ll also need to nail your camera skills, using the right aperture and focal length, bracketing your exposures, and get your composition right for the best shots, as I show you with the following tips and images...

I shot my bluebell scenes with a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV full-frame DSLR, and in Av mode to fix the aperture at f/16 for enough depth of field (DoF) to capture the whole scene nice and sharp. At f/16, this resulted in a shutter speeds around 1/20sec and less at ISO100, as light levels at sunset were dropping fast. I used a tripod so didn't need to worry about camera shake and unwanted blur.

I used a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM lens on my full-frame DSLR. Shooting at longer telephoto focal lengths above 70mm will compress the perspective to bring elements closer together for a frame looking more full of flowers.

First or last light is best for forest flower photos. This will mean the sun is lower in the sky for softer light, plus the sunlight will reach under the tree foliage to light the bluebells below. For my photo (below) we shot towards the setting sun, which was slightly diffused by the taller trees behind the thick area of bluebells.

We also composed so the sun was partially hidden behind a tree. Using a narrow aperture of f/16 has the added bonus of creating a lovely sunburst effect!

Side light can also be very effective for bluebell scenes. For this shot (below), I stood at the edge woodlands, and positioned myself at 90-degrees to the setting sun, and composed to capture this lovely area of bluebells on the hillside underneath the trees. The light is softer and not as harsh, bringing out more the natural colour of the bluebells.

Of course, bluebell flowers also make great subjects for close-ups. Shooting with a wider aperture of f/4 on my trusty Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM telephoto zoom, and focusing closely with a 200mm focal length, has really reduced depth of field so only this single bluebell flower is in sharp focus, with the greenery artistically blurred behind.

Again shooting in the light, the setting sun has lit the area behind, and my focal length and aperture has turned the highlights into brilliant bokeh!

In Manual mode, I shot at f/4, 1/80 sec and ISO200. With my camera settings all sorted, I could get down low with my tripod, and zoom in to focus on individual flowers for a more atmospheric shot packed with colour. Using tripods will enable you to fine-tune your compositions and ensure your scenes are level.

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