If you get itchy from all things candy-sweet and pink, you might want to skip this post. Spring means blossom, and pink flowers are everywhere. I don’t mind a bit of pink, so I have been trying to capture the blossom, but I find it quite difficult. However today I am ready to share my efforts.

My photos of blossom tend to get quite messy, busy, chaotic. When I look at a tree in bloom I see a nice cloud of color and flowers, but in the photo I see too much going on. So I have been searching for a way to capture blossom but still get a tranquil atmosphere. The photo above is borderline too chaotic, but I like the shape of the tree.

The pear tree in my garden has white flowers (photo above), which were pink before they became white (shown here). I could keep this photo uncluttered because of the small branches with a few flowers. But that is also a downside, you don’t get the abundance of flowers you would like to see (or I would).

It started to dawn on me that the answer might be in contrast (was that obvious? at least to me it wasn’t). Keeping the contrast low can help create a more tranquil image. The branch in the photo above was entirely in the shade, with soft light. You could almost argue that this one is even too pretty!

The tree above was partly in the sun, but there was enough shade to keep the photo clean. And of course, here the branch is less filled with flowers, leaving room for some air.

Next challenge, these small fruit trees in the photo above. Pretty hard sunlight creates a lot of contrast, which I have been toning down in lightroom. But reducing the contrast too much makes the image pretty flat. It’s a balance thing…

I have also been experimenting with the focus and viewpoint for these trees. Below you see the spots from the flowers that are out of focus. I like the effect, but not everyone in my household agrees 😉 .

Thanks for reading!