Time for week six of the adventure-a-week challenge! This time was a little different because there wasn’t just one set aside time for the adventure, but instead it was spread out over several days. The goal? Find and photograph all the colors of the rainbow in springtime plants for this Spring photography challenge!
Right now is a perfect time around here for this – all the flowers are blooming and the weather is just lovely. I actually had been planning on something different for this week, but when I saw all the colors popping up and blooming, I knew we had to try to find them all. And it was more challenging than I expected! Blue and orange can be a little trickier to find. Part of the time we just kept our eyes open everywhere we went for the colors – and part of the time we went for walks and drives specifically looking for them. And always with a camera on hand! It was a fun hunt! And makes for a great photography subject, of course. Here is our spectrum, and then below it are a a few ideas and photography tips:
If you want to add another dimension to the project here are a few ideas, whether you want to do it on your own, or with kids…
— To make this more challenging, you can set limits on where you can find the colors. For instance, you could try to find all of them within a set area, like along one road, or in an urban setting where they might be harder to find. Or, you could set limits in a different way – for instance, you could set botanical gardens off limits, or try to only find flowers that are growing in the wild. Any limits like this can make the project more challenging!
— If you have small children who don’t know their colors yet, this can be a fun way to teach colors! Or, if you’re like me, and your kids are old enough to know their colors, they can have a lot of fun helping you hunt for them.
— Or, this can be a fun project to just take off on your own and get to know your camera better! Some of my shots I was more pleased with then others, so I am still learning, but here are a few photography tips that might help:
— Natural light is the best lighting for photography – but direct sunlight is not. Bright and direct sunlight causes harsh shadows and reflective whites. An overcast day can be perfect for getting great shots – or if you’re shooting something small like a flower, try standing so that your shadow falls over the plant. That way there is plenty of natural light, but not direct sunlight on your subject.
— If you have a point and shoot, try using your macro setting – it is usually shown with a flower icon. I use a DSLR camera, but I don’t have a macro lens yet, so my pictures are shot from farther away, and then cropped down to just the flower. Not optimal. It would be better to shoot closer to the subject.
— Whether you shoot an up close shot or you crop it afterwards (or both) try to have most of the final version taken up by the color you’re photographing. That way when you put all the photos together, it will make a more clear “rainbow” of colors.
I hope this inspires you to go outside and enjoy the beauty of spring! To see all the rest of the posts in this adventure a week challenge, you can click here.
And I’ve got an exciting announcement since this adventure challenge is almost over, about what the next challenge will be! I’ll be sharing that on Monday, so be sure to come back for that. :) If you’d like to stay in touch for future posts, be sure to subscribe to my blog!
Post you thoughts in the comments below, I love to hear from you! :)
seems so fun! :)
i haven’t baby yet, but i like to remind it and play it, even just for get back to a child again for a little…
how can you think so gorgeous ideas?
Oh yes, it’s definitely great to remember what it’s like to be a child and keep that sense of wonder! In some ways I think I’ll always be just a big kid – getting excited about the beauty of God’s nature around us and taking pleasure in little things :) Thanks Fede!
This kind of adventure is perfect for turning children into “noticers.” When mine were growing up, I think they sometimes got a little tired of me pointing things out in nature, and I should have turned it into a game more often than I did. Even so, now to varying degrees they are good noticers of God’s handiwork and man’s artful use of His materials, which is gratifying for this mom.
Oh, I love this idea of being “noticers”! What a great way to put it. :) Apathy is something which I just can’t stand, and I think its partly because of how different it is from being a “noticer” … seeing the things God has made and being amazed by them. Thanks Lori! Your offspring definitely are very blessed to have a mother who “notices”. :)
mmmmm I love to see the colors! It is still a bit drab here in northwestern Wisconsin. I will have to go to the florist to see this kind of color! : )
This is a wonderful challenge I will do it and look for the colors wherever I can find them!! : )
Have a blessed day.
Patti
Yeah, colors definitely pop up in different areas at different times … I realized this might be a little early for many places, but I thought better early than late so that people can be ready once the colors *do* come! :) Anyway, thanks so much, Patti! :)
Oh man I was all excited when I saw “photography challenge” and then I saw it was for spring colors and well…. we have no color yet!! In fact there is still snow on the ground… I could photograph brown and white maybe? haha.
Aww! Sorry, I guess spring came a little earlier here. :) I wanted to go ahead and share the idea, though, even if it was a little early for some places, because better too early than too late! Hope you’ll get some warm breezes and pretty colors up there soon! :)