Pro photographer Simon Roy reveals his key techniques
Spring is a time of new beginnings as nature slowly awakens. As the temperature rises, seeds and bulbs that have been buried for months appear as flecks of green shoots and buds, while in the animal kingdom, courtship gets underway, and old partnerships and rivalries are resumed.
For me, this is the best time of year to be out with a camera; a chance to reflect and refresh, to rekindle old projects or begin new ones, and to remedy mistakes or build upon successes. It can be demanding, too, as the days and the foliage get longer; we can spend hours walking, stalking, or just waiting.
Spring has all the ingredients needed for dramatic, engaging, commercial, and even award-winning images. Courtship displays, territorial disputes, sibling rivalries, nest building, parenting, predation, tenderness, aggression, birth and death… it’s all here, and with forethought and persistence, this can be the most rewarding season for a wildlife photographer.
Rising early is essential if you want to catch the best of a spring day – to glimpse a barn owl as it ghosts over a meadow, or watch the sunrise through cobwebs laced with dew, or stand alone in woodland with just the sound of a dawn chorus and the fresh scent of a new day – these moments are the essence of spring, and in these feature we’ll show you how to capture them.
PART 1 START EARLY
Plan ahead, and get up before sunrise to make the most of nature’s calendar
Many of my spring projects are conceived over the winter when I find myself looking forward to warmer days. By planning ahead, I hope to take advantage of the conditions and maximise opportunities. As part of the process, I make a detailed list of shots, with notes on the subject, location, light, backgrounds, time of day, composition, aperture, shutter speed and white balance. I also consider safety, ethics, access and consent.
Many of spring’s highlights are spread throughout the season, allowing me to create a timeline and work through it systematically. During early spring, I often walk along small rivers, hoping to see a white-throated dipper, an aquatic songbird with a preference for clean, fast-flowing upland streams. These beautiful wooded valleys are best visited before deciduous trees put on their summer coats.
Mid-spring is all about bluebell habitats and the wildlife they sustain. These flowers thrive in ancient woodland and appear i
