Must Springtime Photography be about Flowers?

Now that spring has FINALLY decided to stick around (we feel really sorry for the folks in the US northwest and midwest who had to deal with snow even as May settled-in) we thought we would revisit the idea of spring photography and what it means in terms of your subject matter.

Nathan Anderson, one of our staff writers/photographers, decided to take his camera along on a spring photo shoot and see just what kinds of photo opp's he could find that exemplified spring.  Here's what he had to say about his photo day trip:

"Well, first of all, it struck me as I began planning my day, that the first thing I wanted to do - quite instinctively - was to search out spring flowers.  You know, I think most people who live in mid-to-northern climates get quite bored of seeing brown and grey vegetation for a good six to seven months of the year.


Our hearts and minds tend to zero-in on those richly saturated reds, fuschias, yellows, periwinkles and purples that you're sure to see wherever flowers are either sold or popping-up out of the ground.  And since we gravitate to flowers after the long months of winter, our photographic pursuits tend to follow in step!  However, I realized as I approached the first greenhouse at the first plant nursery that I visited this past Saturday, that there's a whole lot more to spring photography than capturing the exciting colors of spring flowers; indeed, there are even more exciting opportunities that say 'SPRING' all around us!  For most photography enthusiasts, it's likely that your lens sees a lot more that's spring-like than your eyes will ever notice!

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Upon stepping into the first of many warm and humid greenhouses on my trek (I'll admit that I was on a double mission...both taking photos and buying bedding plants) I looked up and saw that the rhythmic placement of hanging baskets sporting various red and pink geraniums made a better picture than a macro shot of the flowers themselves.  I absolutely love how the CONTEXT of the photo - the greenhouse itself - gave a different and, I think, more powerful meaning to this particular spring photo. (see right)

It's interesting how often we ignore some of the most compelling things that are in right front of our eyes!

Upon receiving this epiphany, I branched-out and began looking beyond the obvious.  With this mission in mind, it didn't take long to find many other signs of spring that didn't directly involve flowers.  Now, I'll admit that my next conquest did involve flowers of a sort.

The next greenhouse at the nursery, the veggie greenhouse, sported all manner of seedlings that promised to deliver farm-fresh produce from one's very own backyard.  And it was in this greenhouse that I found my next winner. Attending to an overgrown basil plant was a busy bee helping to pollinate its delicate white flowers.  (I had to wonder why they would be selling a basil plant that, for all intents and purposes, was pretty much done its life cycle!??) The bee, it turns-out, is a much more interesting sign of spring than the flowers.

It's interesting how often we ignore some of the most compelling things that are right in front of our eyes!  With this in mind, I set-out very early the next day with my Nikon D800 and lenses in tow. This time, I vowed to ignore flowers on my path during this early Sunday morning photo session and, instead, look for other signs of spring.  My first stop was a riverfront, where I encountered a lone angler watching his line as it disappeared into the fog.  His spring jacket, the serenity of the moment and the fog itself reminded me of the many hours I spent with my father during my youth.  Once the spring thaw began, we would wake as the sun rose and take our poles to the little lake around the corner from our rural home.  There, we would wait patiently, letting our minds wander as we gazed at nothing but our lines and the persistent fog.

The fog reminded me about dew and it didn't take me very long to find a ragged spider web decorated with hundreds of little dew drops.  I've seen this particular spring scene so often through my life and, yet, I had not thought of making it a spring photo subject.  

To be honest, I'll admit that I'm still drawn to the spring flowers, but I'm going to do my best to look for alternative spring photo subjects that I now realize can have an even bigger impact."

Nathan Anderson