Photographing crocuses, from near and far

Sunday 13 March 2022, 20:10 by Erik Nevels | 4,636 views | 2 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

Spring is in the air. After a long period of gloomy weather, the sun has been showing itself regularly again in recent weeks and temperatures are already reaching above 10 degrees on some days. All in all, perfect weather for the first spring flowers, such as crocuses. How will I photograph them this year?

To our usual spot.

Just like in previous years, my photography mate and I visit the same castle park, with lots of snowdrops as well as beautiful crocuses and daffodils.

It's a lovely place to photograph. You can get close to the flowers, there's a pond and the sun can shine on the flowers between the tall trees.

Third year.

This is already the third year I've come here to take photographs. Is it still a challenge, you might wonder. For me and my mate, it certainly is. In February, I regularly cycle past it to check whether we can go yet.

This year, we can go early, and the challenge is once again to take different striking photographs from those of previous years.

With 600mm and backlighting.

The sun is fully out, offering plenty of possibilities, including photographing with backlighting. That's why we arrive early. The freezing cold keeps the crocuses closed for a long time. The groups are somewhat spread out, and I walk past them several times.

At home, I had already decided that I wanted to make close-ups with my 200-600mm lens. On location, I decide that I want two groups of crocuses in the frame, one of them sharp and backlit.

I'll use the other group to photograph through it or just past it. A little later, my camera is lying on a sit mat on the ground, and I focus on the group furthest away. It takes some figuring out, because I want the shortest possible focusing distance.

I then move the camera left and right until I'm happy with the composition. A large aperture creates an attractive, blurred foreground and background, while the backlighting produces equally attractive bokeh.

Sony A7 mark III, 407mm, f/7.1, 1/60sec, ISO100

A little later

In the meantime, the sun has risen quite a bit, the freezing cold has disappeared and the crocuses are slowly opening. You can wait until they are further open, or even fully open, but you can also capture the very beginning.

I look for a group where the first stamen is cautiously showing itself and swap my telephoto lens for the macro lens. I also get the tripod out.

It takes a while before I find a composition I'm happy with. This time, there's no backlighting, but I photograph in the shade and overexpose. It creates a serene effect.

Sony A7 mark III, 90mm macro, f/2.8, 1/15 sec, ISO400

Towards midday.

Time flies and it's almost midday. We've had our tea break and we're going for the final round. I walk over to the crocuses and see that the flowers are more open.

Last year, I photographed a large red-tailed bumblebee looking for nectar. This year, it's a bee flying from crocus to crocus.

I adjust my settings and try to get the little creature sharply in the frame. I mostly see its backside while it crawls all the way into the flower.

When the bee flies from flower to flower, it's always too quick for me. Fortunately, I know that the persistent photographer has the best chance of winning.

A few times, the bee disappears, only to return to the same group of crocuses a little later. Its whole body is already covered in pollen. Luckily, it doesn't suffer from hay fever.

Sony A7 mark III, 90mm macro, f/4.5, 1/1000sec, ISO800

It doesn't get boring

Will I ever get tired of my local patch, favourite subject or landscape, and stop photographing them? Time will tell.

What I do know is that I often return to my local patches and choose the same subjects and landscapes. It doesn't get boring!

For me, that's exactly where the challenge lies. It's a sport to come home with different, and if possible better, photographs. There are always opportunities, because the conditions are always different.

As far as this year's crocuses are concerned, I achieved what I set out to do. And as I write this, the next challenge is presenting itself outside, birds! One of them is making itself heard loudly. A green woodpecker with spring fever.

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