Different photographers have different holly grails but all will include basic elements that are the same; good composition, eye-catching lighting and subject empathy. I like to shoot different subjects away from my staple diet of climbing photography as much as possible hence I make a point of heading into the woods for a short walk with my camera to capture mother nature every once in a while. Depending on the season, time of day and location my local woods can be stunningly picturesque or dull as dish water.

Green turns to blue during the spring in the woods when the blue bell season hits. Everyone who owns a camera should take a hike through the trees in search of that elusive blue bell display. Luckily for me living in Sheffield, there are plenty of woods within the city limits, many of which usually have great swathes of blue bells within a stone’s throw of the main roads. My personal favourite is Ecclesall Woods near Millhouses where a couple of weeks back I disappeared for an hour or so. Using a low camera angle, fill-flash, a wide-angle lens set at a small(ish) f-stop and focused at the hyperfocal point an hour zipped by in about five minutes!

Here are a couple of shots of the Ecclesall Woods blue bells…