Photography tips from Chris Packham

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Taking the winning shot is not easy and requires time, creativity and patience. Former YPA judge, Chris Packham, has written some top tips for snapping that perfect photo in the different seasons.

SPRING

Lambs, bunnies, primroses and bluebells all say spring and are ideal subjects for your photos. But don’t use this as an excuse to be lazy! You still need to look for the perfect picture and to make it stand out by finding a different angle or approach.

Sometimes you need to break the rules! You can shoot in the rain or point your camera into the sun (being careful not to look straight at the sun yourself) to get some drama into your shot. At other times it’s a question of waiting – the dew-drenched, drooping head of the bluebell would be even more interesting if a big fat fluffy bumblebee was hovering beneath it. There is always a better picture there, but you need to recognise it then capture it in your shot. 

Good photographers plan ahead. Before you set out with your camera, think about your subject and what you could do that’s different. You can also find out more about your area before spring arrives – where are the best spreads of snowdrops, which farms will have lambs frolicking in the fields, where do foxes tend to wander – in town or country. Spring is a short season and you might not have much time to capture it, so a notebook full of locations and ideas will help you make the most of it.

With many species giving birth in the spring, the parents are out and about looking for food. If you’re lucky enough to have foxes or badgers visiting your garden, you could save kitchen scraps, such as peanut butter or jam sandwiches on brown bread, to put outside. Be patient and the animals will become used to seeing you sitting with your camera close by. You could take pictures through the window, while a makeshift hide or thick bush will camouflage you and help you get even closer. You’ll be able to take some wonderful shots of these creatures in action.
 

SUMMER

With any luck the weather will be good and this will be the best time of year to get out into the garden. And there should be plenty of colour about which can really liven up your pictures.

If there are flowers around, their nectar will attract insects including butterflies, which are really popular subjects to photograph. But this means you will you have to try very hard to do something that will make your photo stand out! 

Shooting through foliage with lots of out-of-focus background and foreground can be a good way of focusing on your sharp subject, especially if the foliage is colourful. Try to find a ‘hole’ to peep through and if you’re using a digital camera you can take loads of snaps and see what works. If your camera is a compact and will not focus in very close, don’t worry because you can take the picture from further away and then ‘crop in’ on the image when it’s printed. Other things you could think about are making animals into silhouettes by taking pictures with the light (sun) behind the subject, or using slow exposures so that moving wings are slightly blurred. 

The garden pond will also be a busy place in the summer with dragonflies, damselflies, frogs, toads, water bugs and lots of thirsty visitors – it’s sure to be buzzing. Lay down on a plastic sheet with a cushion and stay still. Soon everything will settle down and begin to ignore you, and the lower angle will make your photos look much more natural. Or you could try putting up a hide as I’ve suggested before. It doesn’t need to be well built or permanent, a tent can easily be adapted or use a frame and cover it with an old ground sheet – either way you’ll be able to get closer to any birds that come to drink or bathe. 

Cats and dogs love the garden in summer too, and if you watch them you will soon see where their favourite sunbathing spots are. These may not be the prettiest places so over a few days try ‘dressing the set’ by moving ‘props’ in to make it look better. Flower pots, an old watering can, a planter, even a favourite gnome could do the trick! Then wait for your pets to get settled and casually settle down into a position you have previously marked and . . . snap! I know sneaking up on slumbering pets may not sound very hard, but from my experience getting a good picture of your best friend can be more difficult than getting one of a lion or tiger!
 

 AUTUMN

Now that the birds are flocking back to your feeders, after spending the summer raising their young you've got a great chance to get some super snaps. Visit the local woods and find a really nice weathered or moss covered branch on the ground, and set it up next to your feeder so all the visitors have to perch on it while they wait for their turn at the nuts. If the background is not very natural, a garden shed perhaps, hang a plain dark green cloth on a line behind your ‘set’. Now clean the window, draw the curtains, peg them together with a gap for your lens to poke through and wait.

If you are using a compact camera make sure you turn off the flash or it will bounce off the window also get your lens as close to the glass as possible to reduce reflections and improve the quality. There is no reason why you can't get a picture that looks like it was taken in the woods, rather than your patio, and of course you can try all sorts of ‘sets’ while snapping from the comfort of your lounge or kitchen.

Wet and windy walks with your dog are a great opportunity to do something a bit different. Most people never take photographs in bad weather. Why? Most of us complain that the weather is awful all the time and if we were only to take pictures in sunshine our cameras would always need dusting off! You can get some great waterproof covers for compact cameras or you can make your own with clingfilm or a plastic bag. Try using the flash to illuminate the raindrops and get an ‘assistant’ to throw handfuls of leaves in front of the lens just before you press the button. In fact having someone else on hand to call the dog back is a big help. My two dogs love windy beaches; they run and run and I snap and snap all day. Great fun!
 

WINTER

Before the first frosts arrive the last few garden spiders will be spinning their webs and on a dewy morning they look beautiful. Try to catch them just as the first rays of sun hit them, you will have a minute of crystal spangling before they dry out so be quick and try to keep the background in shadow to make the webs stand out. Grey squirrels will be busy and if they visit your garden try building little ‘sets’ which are more natural looking than your patio, lawn or shed roof. Find a log from the local woods, push some sprigs of holly into a pot for a nice background and lure the squirrels into position with a few peanuts and wait for the perfect pose.

A hard frost can transform the countryside into a fairytale landscape. This is a great opportunity to focus on cattle, horses,ponies and sheep. Normally turning your lenses onto a muddy field full of Friesian cows  is not very tempting but when all is glistening and they are blowing puffs of steam into the freezing morning air  there will be plenty of photos out there, you just have to find them. If there is a really mean frost the manes and eyelashes of ponies can be crusted in ice and this makes a great photo, although I’m not sure the ponies would agree! 

Winter also sees a lot of wildfowl arriving at our shores and these birds make good subjects for the compact camera user when they are swirling about in huge flocks. Each individual bird may be quite small in your picture but together all the ‘dots’ join up to make an impressive whole. As usual be careful with the background, in this case a landscape, no telegraph poles, chimneys or power stations! Crisp, cold and blue early morning skies look far nicer as do rich sunsets and silhouetted birds.
 

Check out the past winners' gallery and read more great photography tips from Andrew Forsyth.  If you think you could do better send your photos in now. You’ve got to be in it to win it! 
 

 

 

 

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