Spring Photo Shoots: Mastering Night Flower Photography

My Spring photo shoots: capturing flowers in a new light

Spring is the time when nature awakens and offers us an opportunity to capture beautiful moments through photography. For photographers, this is the time to enjoy capturing different flowers, birds, sunsets, and other beautiful scenes… 🌸

For me, every season is the right time to experiment with photography. However, spring has a special charm, colorful energy, and unpredictable plans with me. This time, I decided to try photographing flowers in the dark, using a long shutter speed and additional light… 

Here’s how I approached this magical spring photo shoots:

While walking through the botanical garden and taking numerous daytime photos, I got an idea to capture the flowers at night. As it was already late in the evening, I decided to wait until it got dark. And since I had already viewed the plants, it wasn’t difficult to find them, although some flowers had closed in the dark. Nevertheless, I managed to take some interesting shots.

My settings:

• ISO: 100
• F-stop: f/9 – f/11
• Exposure time: 8 sec

For additional light, I used flashlights with different color spectrums and a string of battery-operated lights. I achieved different color spectrums and the power of the illumination with the help of homemade diffusers made of plastic bags or filters of different colors.

You wouldn’t believe it, but the best results I got were obtained with flashlights that had poor lighting… Even with almost-empty batteries, they gave me just enough dim light that I could use to illuminate the flowers without overexposing them.

I directed the flashlight towards the flowers to illuminate them from different angles and express them in a unique way. I used the string of lights to draw with light, creating some stunning artwork in the background of the flowers.

This approach allowed me to add creative effects to my photos and create unique artworks in the background of the flowers. It was a unique and magical way for me to express my creativity through photography and take advantage of the wonderful opportunities that spring offers… 📸

If you want to try photographing with light, follow these steps:

1. The use of a tripod or any solid surface is mandatory for this type of photography. This is necessary to keep the camera stable and achieve sharp, clear images.
2. Select the manual (M) mode on your camera.
3. Use a low ISO value of around 100 to 200 to reduce noise in the image.
4. Set the aperture to around f/9 to f/11 to ensure good exposure and depth of field, which is important when photographing flowers.
5. Set the shutter speed to somewhere between 8 and 30 seconds, depending on how long it takes to create your light painting image. If there is too much light, reduce the exposure time, and if there is too little light, increase the exposure time.
6. Autofocus on the subject, then switch to manual focus. Pre-focus on the area where you will use the light to create your image. If available, enable manual focus peaking, a visual aid that shows which parts of the image are most in focus. (I have mine set to red for MF peaking on my Nikon Z5).
7. I don’t like using a remote trigger. Instead, I like to set the camera to shoot at regular intervals.This feature, which is available on some cameras, lets you set a certain amount of time between shots. The photographer saves time while the camera takes pictures at the set interval.
8. Move the pocket light or other light sources while shooting to create different light trails and effects.
9. Check the photos on the camera screen from time to time and adjust the settings as needed.
10. Avoid windy nights! Wind is the biggest enemy of long exposure photography, as it causes blurry or hazy photos due to flower movement. Therefore, choose a calm night to avoid the chaotic movement of your subject.

With these settings, you can capture beautiful light painting photos. However, different lighting situations require different settings to achieve optimal results. Therefore, it is important to experiment with your camera and learn how to adjust the settings for each individual situation… 💪

Spring is celebrated with joy in many places around the world. Let’s take a look at how it is celebrated:

• Japan: Hanami is a traditional Japanese festival celebrated during the cherry blossom season. This usually occurs at the end of March or beginning of April. The word “hanami” in Japanese means “viewing flowers,” and that is the main activity of the celebration. Many people dress up in traditional clothing and go to the park to socialize, enjoy Japanese food and drink, and admire the cherry blossoms while conversing and relaxing. The cherry blossom season lasts only a few days. So this festival is associated with the idea of the beauty and transience of life.
• In Thailand, spring is celebrated together with the New Year’s holiday, which takes place shortly after the spring equinox. The celebration is known for the world’s largest water fights, which take place in the streets. Spring is a time of hope and new beginnings in Thailand. The new year and spring festival are very important to the Thai people, representing a time of renewal and a chance to remove the old and welcome new beginnings.The Nauruz festival is one of the most important holidays in Central Asia and is also known as the Persian New Year. On Nauruz day, residents dress in their best clothes and gather in a circle. Traditional games are played, folk dances are performed, and the streets are filled with colorful processions featuring brass bands and other musicians.
• A Bulgarian tradition that is characteristic of the beginning of spring is called “Martenitsi.” This tradition begins on March 1st, when residents of Bulgaria exchange red and white braided bracelets. When they see the first stork or the first blooming fruit tree, they remove their bracelets and tie them around the flowering branch or tree. This custom represents a symbol of life, health, and fertility. In spring, many trees adorned with red and white bracelets can be seen in Bulgarian gardens and parks.
• The Indian spring festival (Holi, or the festival of colors), is celebrated on the last full moon of the month. This festival is full of joy, colors, singing, and dancing, and people of all ages and social groups take part in it. People dress in bright colors and throw powdered colors, water balloons, and spray paint at each other. This symbolizes the unity, joy, and solidarity among people. 🌸

So, don’t hesitate to explore the enchanting world of night spring photo shoots…

Night time photography can be an extremely interesting and attractive experience for any photographer. Even though it was hard for me to take pictures in the dark, I think that with the right knowledge and tools, beautiful pictures can be made.  Spring nights offer unique opportunities for capturing unique photographs.

For me, these nighttime hours were really special experiences, full of laughter, funny poses during photography, and at the end, interesting photographs…