Tips for Taking Cherry Blossom Photos

With the arrival of spring also comes the arrival of the delicate cherry blossoms. These breathtaking pink blooms come and go very quickly. So grab your camera and make the most of photographing these cherry blossoms while they are still here. Here are some tips on how to get the best photographs of the cherry blossoms whether you are traveling to Japan, Washington, DC, your city park, or your own backyard.

Experiment with Exposure

When photographing a frame full of pale blossoms, your cherry blossom images could turn out much darker than you would like. Experiment with different exposure compensation settings to get the result you are looking for. Increasing the exposure by one stop will brighten your cherry blossom image.

Add Contrast

It‘s easy to think simply filling the frame of you camera with nothing but cherry blossoms will yield the best results. However, photographing the delicate blossoms against the blue sky, or the red bricks of a historic building will optimize their natural beauty. This will be better accomplished if you avoid shooting your cherry blossom photography with the harsh, mid-day sun shining down. Don’t let a cloudy day keep you from photographing the cherry blossoms. Shooting under overcast skies will help saturate the colors.

Vary the Angle

Don’t settle for that single image of the whole cherry tree. Take a variety of cherry blossom shots from a variety of angles. Use a shallow depth of field as you capture images of a single bloom. If you’ve arrived a day or two late, and the blooms have fallen, capture images of the fallen blooms as well. Take cherry blossom images of an entire single tree, a row of trees that border the path of the park, or a single branch. There’s no end to the creative cherry blossom images you can take.

Bokeh Blossoms

A great way to isolate a single cherry blossom or a mass of cherry blossoms is to shoot close with your camera with a large aperture. Setting the aperture on your Sony FE 50mm F2.5 G Full Frame Ultra Compact Prime G Lens from Beachcamera.com to a large setting. F/2.8 or f/1.4 will separate the cherry blossoms from the background. This will create a pleasing bokeh enhancing the colors of the cherry blossom.

Nighttime Shoot

You don’t need to put your camera away when the sun goes down. Cherry blossoms are stunning when illuminated at night as well. Take a tripod along to hold your camera steady while shooting. Be sure you don’t leave your shutter open too long. One slight breeze will blur your image. With so many ways to photograph cherry blossoms, try “branching” out and shooting them all. No pun intended. Shoot wide to take in the entire tree or field of trees. Move in close creating soft bokeh, or even detailed macro shots. Don’t be afraid to include the surroundings: people picnicking under the cherry blossoms, or strolling along the river that winds through the trees. There really is no creative limit when it comes to photographing cherry blossoms.