Seasons Photography:
embracing the time of year in photographs

Seasons photography is about taking what nature gives us, and turning the surprises of the seasons into memorable images. As we know, macro photography is special in that it is close-to-home, backyard photography.

I have always lived in areas of the world with distinct seasons, and I teach from that perspective. To my friends in different climates, I hope you can translate what I write about into something useful for where you live.

Here are the pages I've prepared in this Seasons Photography section:

• Spring Photography means capturing nature's rebirth after a long, cold winter. We'll discuss the subjects and qualities that make spring photography unique.


• Summer Photography means making the best of long, warm days, and a natural world full of life. Let's talk about what makes summer photography special, and how to deal with summer's surprises.


• As the days shorten, and frost begins to coat the land, it's time to embrace Fall Photography. Let's look at what makes autumn photos especially rewarding.


• Winter Photography reveals the world like no other time of year. Let's bundle up and make the best of the cold weather photography season!

How I talk about seasons photography

Each seasons photography page will be divided up as follows:

• Seasons photography Subjects. What makes itself available during this particular season.


• Light: How it's qualities change during long days, short days, and in between.


• The Camera Bag: Matching your photography gear to the time of year.


• Preparing yourself: Dealing with weather, climate, and the ideal time of day for photographing.


• Photography Gallery: Some example close-up and macro photographs to catalyze your own creative output.
  

Natural Light Throughout the Year

This part may be obvious, but I encourage you to give it some thought. It might spark something inside you that guides your future approach to photography throughout the year.

Length of daylight through the year,
for where I live

The graph tells a familiar story, a result of our planet's yearly journey around the sun: long days in summer, short days in winter (marked in turn by the summer and winter solstice), and one day of equal length as we transition from winter to spring, and from summer to autumn (either the vernal or autumnal equinox). At my home latitude of 41 degrees North, the day length ranges from 9 hrs. in winter, to about 15.5 hrs. in summer.

Climate extremes, however, follow a slightly different pattern. Winter's coldest days typically fall after the winter solstice, and the hottest days of summer several weeks after the summer solstice. Where I live (in the mid-western United States), the autumnal equinox feels more like summer, and the vernal equinox a lot like winter.

Okay, okay, so what does this grade school Earth Science have to do with macro photography?

It means that, when assessing all the things that motivate us to step outside with our cameras (the subjects we seek, the quality and character of light, and the climate conditions), no month on the calendar is like any other.

For example: September light is quite similar to March light, but just by looking out the window we see they feature very different shooting conditions. February light is nearly the same as October light, but it's hard to imagine two more different months in which to photograph.

Add to that the life-cycles of the living things that we love to photograph (insects, flowering plants, etc.), and the picture becomes clear: every day offers new opportunities that may not have been around a week ago, and which may vanish by next week.

So: learn the ins-and-outs of seasons photography, and learn to embrace the special qualities of each time of year. It will make you a more versatile, more sensitive, and more interesting photographer.

Once again, here are the pages in this Seasons Photography section:

• Spring Photography
• Summer Photography
• Fall Photography
• Winter Photography