A family photo-shoot in the poppy fields.
Poppy fields are amazing when you find them, they are definitely hidden gems. As a family photographer you are always on the look-out for amazing backdrops for outdoor photography shoots.
So one May half term when my husband sent me a photo of one of the fields at home on the farm I was over the moon!!!
When photographing family portraits, I generally discuss with the parents the type of image they like beforehand. Most want at least one of their ‘child smiling at the camera’ shot, even if they’re up for some ‘more creative’ shots too, and as a parent, I’m no different. There are children who can perform on cue with a great, natural smile. But others I play games with and take a more natural approach to get my end results. A mixture of the two often ends in a great gallery of natural family portraits mixed with a few of the children/family looking more directly to the camera. Avoiding those posed shots and forced smiles that no one likes!
When and where do Poppy fields arrive? This varies!!!
They are often difficult to find though, as locations change every year – which means family photo shoots are offered to clients quite last minute. Poppies are very strange flowers because a field that was covered in them last year wont have a single one in it the next, it can be very frustrating.
Here are a few tips on how to best take landscape photographs of the Poppy fields.
Wide angles are great for big fields though but think about your composition, do you want to get the wide sweep of the field ? if so set your tripod up high to capture the scale of it, or do you want to have a really foreground heavy shot ? or is there just a small patch of poppies ? In which case get down low and go heavy on the short local length and make the field seem a lot more by filling the frame.
I personally feel poppy fields are at their best after sunrise or before sunset in the golden hours. Beautiful light falling on poppies makes them at their very best and intensifies the colours so much more, they can look a bit drab when shooting into the sun.
They normally appear from mid June – early July, so please do register your interest early in the year.
If you would like to find out more about booking a family session with me contact me here.
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