Misty Morning Bluebells…..or are they?

Bluebells flowering in English woods is a widely anticipated spectacle that many photographers look forward to.  For the last couple of years we’ve pitched up and taken our pictures and whilst some of them are pleasant images, it’s difficult to do anything outstanding or more creative than before.

So we hatched a plan!

Last seasons Photoshop fake!

As with most of our plans, it hatched at the pub, and went along the thought process of “how could we do it different”.  All sorts of ideas surfaced, but one developed from the recognition that pictures in woods where there is a mist in the air with sun behind the trees creates light shafts and dappled light on the ground.  Wouldn’t it be good if the ground were strewn with Bluebells! I’d faked one in Photoshop last year but wasn’t happy with it. 

Leaving it to our fickle weather was unlikely to deliver the right conditions when we had the time to go and take pictures.  Then someone said “I know a bloke with a smoke machine for his disco”……

Of course to run the smoke machine meant we also needed a generator, luckily we had access to one and off we went.

Sadly the Flowers are not fully out yet but we may try again when they are more fulsome.

You can see our setup in the pics below.  I’m not overly happy with my efforts 1 and 2 we could have done with the wind blowing the other way, so we’ll take an electric fan next time!

Generator in the distance,
waiting for smoke machine to charge up.

Instant mist!

Taking our pics as "mist" clears.

As always comments hints and tips welcome.

Peter.