Summerlight isn’t
perfect,butthere is no
lackofsubject matter
Choose
suitable
subjects
Wild flowers
Fromlatespringuntilmid-summer, woodlands,
fieldsandmeadowscome alive with wild
flowers.Bluebellsflower in woods during
May,asdoesthrifton coastal cliff tops. In
JuneandJuly,fieldsof red poppies stretch
intothedistance–and in recent years, pale
pinkopiumpoppieshave also been grown
forpharmaceuticaluse. The difficult with wild
poppiesisthereisnoway to know where they
willflower,asseedscan lie dormant for many
years–theonlywayto find them is to get out
andaboutandspendtime looking for them. In
midtolateAugust,heather blooms, covering
hillsideswithpurple.
Toshootwildflowers, you can get in
closewithawideangle lens to exaggerate
perspectiveorusethe compression effect
ofatelephototocreate the impression of a
thickcarpet.Alternatively, use a macro lens
andnarrowdepthoffield to isolate them from
theirsurroundings.Crops
Fieldsofcropssuchas rapeseed, wheat
andbarleyalsomakegreat subject matter;
forsomethingdifferent, try shooting with
arestricteddepthoffield or a long shutter
speedtocreatemotion blur.Mistymornings
Mostpeopleassociate misty mornings with
springandautumn,but they are surprisingly
commonduringthesummer – look for clear,
stillnightsandthetemperature falling after a
warmday.Ifyouthink there’s a chance of mist,
getoutearlyandhead for the hills. Looking
downontotreesandbuildings rising above a
lowmistisarecipefor striking images.The nightsky
Clearnightsinareperfect for shooting the
nightsky,especiallythe milky way. You’ll need
afastwideangle(with a maximum aperture of
f2.8orfaster)andacamera capable of good
resultsathighISO.Focused on infinity, shoot
wideopenwithexposures of no longer than 15
secondstoavoidrecording movement in the
stars–thisrequiresvery high ISO settings.Techniques