I’ve been fortunate enough to have spent the last few months in North Yorkshire. We are in the process of renovating a house for our big move in a few years time. It’s a home that needs a lot of TLC and comes with a wild disheveled garden that needs a lot of attention. The odd weekend hurriedly weeding and deadheading has never really made a difference, but the last twelve weeks have given me that time. Time to nourish the soil, peel ivy off walls, clear nettles from the borders and uncover all the roses that have been hiding for too long in the undergrowth
Along with everyone else, the start of lockdown had me rummaging through drawers looking for odd packets of seeds that had been bought on a whim and never sown. Now was the perfect time to dig over that wild flower patch I’d long promised myself and chuck them all in and see what happened! Day by day week by week nurturing and watching them grow has been so rewarding. Nigella, cornflowers, ammi, camomile all have all begun to bloom this month.
These ball vases were gifted from https://cooee.se/I love the smooth shapes, the perfect contrast to the wild flowers.
The house is nestled in a small farming hamlet not far from Thirsk with views of the moors in the East and Dales in the distance to the West. The wheat and barley fields are peppered with poppies, campion and oxeye daisies and I’m spoilt for choice this time of year in terms of photographing outdoors.
Tips for photographing flowers outside
Sitting amongst wild flowers camera in hand has really been the perfect escape during these challenging times. A chance to practice shooting outdoors as the sun goes down. Here it doesn’t get dark till gone 10pm, but about 8pm seems to be the best time to catch the light behind the petals. If you are trying this yourself sit amongst the flowers if you can, as low down as you can go. Really think about your point of focus. I love the blurry feel as the poppies brush against the camera in the breeze in this image. At this time of the evening I prefer to shoot into the sun. Every thing backlit creates that pretty glow.
This evening had soft diffused lighting from cloud cover which is perfect for capturing pure colour and clarity.
I’ve always felt passionate making use of what I have in the garden to make my arrangements. Using flowers that are seasonal and local. Sometimes there isn’t much at all, but we don’t need a huge amount. One beautiful sprig or a little posy of foraged flowers can be enough to lift the mood and spark creativity.
I hope you’ve had a chance to get creative with flowers this June. Keep safe and well this summer.
If you are creating inside, you can read my tips on creating a Dutch masters look here
Janne x
