GUY’S TOP 10 TIPS

1 Tripod legs for days

a tripod will help you capture sharp images, especially when you stop down for extra depth of field. It’s also a must if you want to blend exposures to control contrast or focus-stacking.

2 Lens hoods will not save you here

when shooting into the light lens flare can be a problem. Lens hoods are not effective here, so use your hand or a piece of card to block light from striking the front element of your lens.

3 Leading lavender lines

Search for the perfect spot from which to shoot. avoid weedy or unhealthy areas of lavender. you’ll also want to avoid gaps between the lavender plants that will break up the lines you’re going for.

4 Keeping it alive in the field

experiment with different lenses - wide-angles for sweeping vistas, telephotos for details and compressed perspective, macros for close-ups of flowers and insects or maybe even a fisheye!

5 No limits, no restrictions!

Don’t restrict yourself to shooting only around sunrise and sunset. It is possible to shoot interesting images of lavender fields in the middle of the day - look for graphic patterns, busy bees and other insects at this time of the day.

6 Work with Mother Nature

on windy days it’s often better to work with the conditions than fight against them. try using a strong neutral density filter to achieve a long exposure and blur the moving lavender flowers.

7 Such great heights

the height you shoot at can have a big impact on your shots. try shooting low from between the rows of lavender, but also consider taking a small stepladder for a higher vantage point.

8 It’s all in the timing

Get your timing right. you’ll want the lavender to be in peak condition for the best shots. this can vary from one year to the next so do some research and pay an early visit to see how things are looking.

9 Focus-stack upon focus-stacking

Focus-stacking involves shooting several identical frames at a middle aperture with the point of focus in different places and combining them in software. this can lead to much sharper shots.

10 Polarizing opinions

use a polarizing filter to accentuate clouds in a blue sky and to remove reflections from shiny green foliage, but try not to overdo the effect when using a wide-angle lens!