Project 1 Add a creative twist to your tree shots

The lush, yellow-green canopy offered by newly-leafed trees presents a great chance to get a freeform abstract – especially against a bright blue sky. These punchy colours will combine to give an arty, Impressionist-style shot if you capture them with a rush of camera movement and a slow shutter speed. To set up, use Aperture Priority mode with a narrow aperture like f/22, and set ISO to 100. This will give your longest possible shutter speed. If you shoot with your camera at chest height and spin on a heel as you press the shutter, your arc of motion will record the scene as a rush of colour and swirling texture.

Because you can’t look through the viewfinder while shooting in this way, you will get some hits and misses, but a quick check of the rear display will swiftly sort one from the other! It’s a fascinating and absorbing technique, as your physical movement creates the shot. Just remember to pick a quiet spot when doing it: your photo-pirouettes are bound to raise the eyebrows of any passers-by!