Photo by Borislav Krustev / CC0
One of the great things about landscape and nature photography is that each season presents unique opportunities. Although I do love the beautiful colors of autumn, spring may actually be my favorite time of the year for photography. After a long, cold winter it’s great to have more hours of sunlight and warmer weather.
Trees and plants are coming to life with vibrant greens, and water levels tend to be high the snow melts off, which is great for photographing waterfalls!
Spring is a great season for getting outside and working on your craft. If you are looking for a specific project to get your creative juices flowing, there are many different things that you can do. In this article, I’ll list 7 possible subjects that will allow you to enjoy spring while photographing the nature around you.
Spring and early summer are great for getting outside and photographing flowers. This could include close up macro photos or landscapes that include wildflowers in the scene or foreground.
Finding flowers is pretty easy, they could even be in your own yard. There are plenty of public parks with flowers, and many private parks and gardens are also possibilities (some prohibit commercial photography so be sure to check the photo policy ahead of time).
The easiest way to get started is to find a local park, botanical garden, or arboretum that you can visit. Be sure to allow yourself plenty of time so you can move slowly and get great shots of many different flowers.
→ To get the most out of your wildflower photography see the Wildflower Photography e-book by Steve Berardi.
Another similar option to photographing flowers is to photograph trees that are blossoming or blooming. Certain types of trees are beautiful in the spring. And some, like the cherry trees in Washington, D.C., is quite well known.
If you’re not sure what type of trees to look for, see this article that discusses 10 beautiful flowering trees and this article that lists the best flowering trees and shrubs.
The biggest challenge with photographing tree blossoms is that you have a very small window of time, and it can be hard to predict. You’ll need to have some flexibility and be ready to head out when the peak of the condition.
Moving water like streams, creeks, rivers, and waterfalls are a great subject throughout the year. However, many of them flow stronger and carry more water in the spring after snow melts. This is especially true with mountain streams and waterfalls, as well as those that are fed by water flowing from a higher elevation and colder areas.
Another reason to love photographing waterfalls and streams in the spring is the beautiful, lush greens that surround them.
You’re probably already aware of some streams or waterfalls in your area, and if not you can do a Google search like “waterfalls in Pennsylvania” and you’ll find plenty of help that will point you in the right direction.
→ Related reading: 10 Tips for Fabulous Waterfall Photography
Nothing is more typical of spring than the sound of chirping birds. Bird photography is a hobby of many people, and if you have never tried it this spring is a great time to start. It’s possible to photograph birds without even leaving your house (depending on where you live).
See How and Where to Photograph Songbirds for some great tips.
You don’t have to limit yourself to just photographing birds in your backyard. Local parks are also good possibilities, and a Google search may help you to find a nature or wildlife refuge near you (see the next list item for some helpful links).
Birds obviously aren’t the only type of wildlife to photograph in spring. Many species are much more active and visible as the weather warms up, not to mention the wildlife photography is a lot more enjoyable for you when you’re not trudging through snow and ice.
The specific locations to photograph wildlife will depend on where you live and what you want to photograph. You can search for places to photograph wildlife in your area and you can also use the following links to help:
As the weather warms up and leaves come back, the forest is a great place to photograph. In spring and summer, the greens tend to be vibrant and eye-catching. Later on, in the summer, this may not be the case if it’s a dry, hot summer.
So if you want to photograph a beautiful green forest, spring is the best time to do it.
Many great photos can be created just by taking a hike through the forest. Find a local park or nature preserve and get out for a hike to see what you can find. If you combine it with moody weather, like an early morning fog, you may come away with something especially awesome.
You may also find some wildflowers on your hike through the forest.
→ Related reading: How to Take Beautiful Photos in the Forest
If you want to get outside and enjoy the warmer weather, what better place to photograph than the beach? By photographing the beach in spring you’ll be able to get the warmer weather and still beat the crowds that will be flocking to the beach during the summer months.
→ See How to Photograph the Beach or Coast for tips
Spring is a great time for landscape and nature photography, with lots of new life and some spectacular colors. If you want to capture beautiful landscape photos, spring is the perfect time to do it.
Of course, spring means colorful flowers and tree blossoms. You’ll also find vivid and vibrant greens as new leaves and plants begin to grow before the heat of summer. As the snow melts in high elevations, rivers, streams, and creeks flow down with an increased volume of water.
That extra water often leads to waterfalls that are flowing generously, rather than the trickle that you may find during the summer or fall months at some waterfalls.
It’s also a lot of fun to get out in the spring. Most of us spend too much time indoors during the cold months of winter, so it’s always exciting to be able to get out and enjoy the fresh air.
As you head out to capture your own photographs this spring, here are a few tips that can help you to get the best results.
Although spring presents some great opportunities, you need to plan ahead or you’ll miss some of the best opportunities. Those opportunities will depend on where you live, or where you are traveling. Here in Pennsylvania, my favorite spring photography subjects are the creeks and waterfalls that are flowing nicely.
I’ve found that May and early June is generally a good time to photograph. The water level is usually decent, and by that time the trees and plants have a vibrant green color that looks great in the background of a waterfall.
Flowers are possibly the most popular thing to photograph during the spring, and with good reason. Different flowers bloom at different times, and, of course, that can vary a bit each year depending on the weather and temperature. Although there is some variance, you can still plan ahead by researching the windows of time that specific flowers will be blooming at a particular location.
I know that early June is a good time to photograph at a wildflower preserve in my area, but the exact dates will vary a little depending on the year.
Planning ahead won’t guarantee that the conditions are perfect on a specific day, but you can narrow it down and give yourself the best chance of timing it right.
→ Related reading: Tips for Planning a Photography Outing
Once you’ve planned ahead and you’ve narrowed down the dates that are likely to be ideal for what you want to shoot, be ready to move quickly when the time is right. For example, the cherry blossoms in Washington, DC draw huge crowds every spring, but it’s impossible to plan ahead and know exactly when the peak time will occur.
If you want to get the timing just right, you’ll need to be willing and able to move quickly when the conditions are ideal.
This is possible if you’re photographing a location close to where you live, but it’s harder and not as practical if you’re planning a trip. If that’s the case, most of the time you’ll need to narrow it down as best as you can and hope that the timing of your trip is good.
Another way that you need to be prepared is in terms of the gear and clothing that you have with you. Spring months are often rainy, so it’s a good idea to have some sort of rain cover or sleeve to protect your gear.
A polarizer is also something you’ll want to have with you. This could be true for other times of the year, but the polarizer can help a few different ways in the spring.
It can help you to get vibrant colors and to get some nice contrast between the white clouds and the blue sky. A polarizer is also extremely useful for cutting the glare coming off of water or wet rocks that are surrounding a river or waterfall.
I love bringing waders with me during the spring. Since I photograph a lot of creeks and waterfalls in the spring, I can wade into the cool water and keep myself dry thanks to my waders.
They make it possible for me to get better angles and perspectives compared to just staying out of the water.
It’s also a good idea to have layers of clothes that you can add or remove. The temperature can change and you may need to add or remove a layer to stay dry.
→ Related reading: 13 Accessories That Should Be in Every Landscape Photographer’s Camera Bag
Spring landscape and nature photos can come in a lot of different varieties. For example, flowers can be photographed close up, or they can be included as one part of a larger landscape scene. Try to change things up and take a variety of different types of photos rather than getting stuck creating too many photos that are very similar.
One of the most basic tips for landscape photography is to include some sort of foreground interest in your composition. There are all kinds of different possibilities here, but flowers can make an excellent source of foreground interest. You just need to find a composition that is interesting while having the flowers located in the foreground.
→ Related reading: How to Use Foreground Elements in Compositions
Spring can be rainy, but don’t let a little bit of rain stop you from getting out and photographing. The rain can bring some great opportunities, and you can also find nice lighting and rainbows after some storms.
If you’re photographing in forests or under tree cover, overcast days usually offer the best lighting. A little bit of light rain is usually fine. Most of the waterfalls I photograph are under tree cover, so if I see light rain in the forecast I’m happy with that.
I’d much rather photograph waterfalls during rain than in harsh sunlight.
→ Related reading: 8 Things to Photograph on Rainy Days
Color is essential to spring landscapes, so embrace the color and look for opportunities to include and feature color in your compositions. But be careful with the colors during post-processing. There is a fine line between vibrant colors and unrealistic, overdone colors.
The vibrance and saturation sliders in Lightroom will have a big impact, but you can also use the HSL sliders to get precise control over specific colors. If you want to learn more about post-processing, see our Lightroom for Landscapes video course.
When you’re photographing, it’s easy to get caught up looking for certain things in composition and forget to look for fine details. Intimate scenes and close-ups are a great opportunity for your spring photos. Get close to a plant or tree and find a composition that works.
You can also to the same thing with creeks as they flow around rocks or any number of other subjects.
If you’re photographing flowers, one of the best ways to get unique, powerful photos is to get low. Don’t photograph everything from eye level. Find a unique angle or perspective that works well with the subject.
So far we’ve talked a lot about landscape and nature photos, but another great option for the spring is wildlife. If you enjoy photography birds, spring is an ideal time to do it. There are also a lot of other animals that start to become more active in the spring, so there are plenty of opportunities.
You may be able to find birds or other wildlife at a local park, or head to a wildlife preserve to find some other opportunities.
→ Related reading: How and Where to Photograph Songbirds
Enjoy your spring photography! Keep these tips in mind and I think you’ll be pleased with the results.
Spring will soon be here, and that means some of the best opportunities for landscape and nature photography are just around the corner. There are plenty of beautiful scenes to photograph during the spring, including blossoming trees, blooming flowers, vibrant greens coming to life, birds and other wildlife, as well as flowing creeks and waterfalls.
Regardless of what type of nature photography you prefer, you’re bound to find some amazing subjects in the spring. When I first became interested in photography, fall was my favorite time of the year because of the autumn colors. But once I got some experience in the spring, I quickly realized that spring is equally as great a time to photograph as the fall.
One of the nice things about spring is that some of the best subjects give you a bit of a longer window than you have in the fall with peak colors that might only last a few days. The vibrant greens last for several weeks and streams and waterfalls will be flowing nicely for a while after the snow melts. Flowers may not bloom for a long period of time, but they don’t all bloom at once, so you can usually catch something at its peak.
On this page, you’ll find some inspiration that should give you some ideas for your own spring photography. We also have several articles that can help you to get better results with some of these subjects:
Feel free to share your own spring photography ideas and projects.
Photo license links: Pixabay license, Unsplash license, Pexels, CC BY-SA 2.0, CC0, Public Domain
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