Picture Perfect Season
Does the beginning of spring revitalise your passion for photography?
If you generally take a break from photography over winter, then spring is a time to bring yourself (and your camera) out of hibernation. It’s a time to head outdoors and take advantage of nature’s season of renewal and regrowth.
In spring, nature is full of life and the colours of the landscape are revived. We enjoy more daylight hours and sunny days. Birds and wildlife become more active and wildflowers bloom and burst with colour. It’s a whole new world to explore and capture in your photos.
While every season is photogenic in its own way, here are six subjects you may like to focus on this spring…
Waterfalls
While many of Tasmania’s waterfalls flow all year round, in spring the flow of water is more plentiful as snow melts from the mountain tops, and cascades via the rivers and creeks to the escarpments in forests, coast and towns! We have an abundance of magnificent waterfalls in Tasmania, so you are sure to be spoilt for choice.
Birds
Spring is a fantastic time for bird photographers. Activity increases greatly during this season – and it’s the breeding season for many native birds, so there’s countless opportunities to observe different courting rituals and nesting behaviours. It’s best to be an early riser though, because it’s morning when the birds are more active.
Wildlife
Tasmania’s wildlife has a way of truly captivating your heart at any time of the year. However, in spring it’s easy to become so much more captivated by incredibly adorable newborn critters. The key to photographing wildlife (and birds for that matter) is to spend a little time observing behaviour and characteristics of different species. This allows you to better anticipate activity helping you to capture unique moments in your images.
Native Flowers
Tasmania’s wildflowers mainly bloom throughout spring and summer. There is no one location that you’ll see more wildflowers in bloom than another. Rather, different species flower at different times in different habitats. You’ll find a mosaic of colour in alpine habitats from late winter/early spring, the endemic Tasmanian Waratah flowers for a short number of weeks anytime from late November into December while the peak of the flowering season for native orchids is September to November.
Unfurling Fern Fronds
There’s just something about photographing ferns as new growth unfurls to become a graceful fern frond. Photograph the patterns, shapes, textures and lush green colours. If there’s a splash of spring rainfall, look for water droplets with reflections within it
Wide-angle Landscapes
Something that’s special about spring is the many vibrant and renewed colours of the landscape. The days lengthen and the clouds make way for the glowing sun. Shooting a wide-angle composition with something interesting featured in the foreground adds an all-new perspective to a landscape image otherwise captured in other seasons.
