Spring Bulbs and Vivid Blooms -
Picture Them Framed!

Some spring bulbs are impatient for warm sunny weather... so much so that they don't even wait for spring to roll back the cover of snow! The snow drops and early crocuses for instance.

I wasn't quick enough to catch these snowdrops poking out of the snow this time. They're nestled right up under this twisty tree trunk!

Lots of spring bulbs were caught unaware in this year's bouncing temperatures and were killed off with a cold snap. The weather has definitely been confused! Well, that's finally settled out and the spring bulbs lit up Vancouver with an array of yellows and oranges, blues and violets.

Happily, the daffodils and crocuses bloom at the same time as the cherry blossoms. Get down low, right on the ground and point your camera up at the daffodils. That way you can catch the cherry blossoms and other flowering bushes in the background.

Shooting from above isn't usually that effective. You'll get the soil as a background and not all that flattering a view of most flowers. Getting down to the level of what you're shooting is also a good idea for pets and children, too!

Who doesn't love to roll around the ground with their kids and pets, or their flowers?

Have you ever noticed that plants follow the sunlight during the day... they swivel so they always get a nice view of the sun. If you're a gardener, you know that!

Its called heliotropism. Your houseplants grow towards the light and its a good idea to keep turning them so they grow evenly.

My original intent in playing with framing these spring bulbs was to make note cards... and, to have a little fun, too!

Writing out a beautiful note card, sticking a stamp on it and sending it to someone special is a lost art! And that's a shame because when you get one, its so special. Not an email... a card you can touch and admire with a note inside just for you!

This photo makes a lovely note card. The yellow daffodils with their brilliant orange trumpets and a nice splash of blue-violet. The dark tree trunk gives the daffodils a contrasty background so they don't blend in with it.

If they were photographed against grass or a green leafy background, they wouldn't stand out like they do on the dark brown.

The tree has some nice texture to it as well... a lot more interesting than lawn!

Framing is part of photography composition. When you're taking flower pictures, for example... tree branches around the top and sides of the photo or shooting through a window or a door.

But after you've taken your best shot and loaded it onto your computer, there's another way to add framing for a finishing touch.

I've put frames around most of these pictures of spring bulbs with their brilliant flowers. Framing is fun and easy when you get the hang of it. I use Adobe Photoshop with a plugin called PhotoFrame from OnOne.

The daffodils and crocuses greet all the visitors to Green Timbers Urban Forest here in Surrey... they live in the gardens around the parking lot. The splash of color gets you in the right mood and really lifts your spirits.

Recognize this photo of spring bulbs? Its the star of the May flower wallpaper.

Yellow and blue-violet go so well together! The blue-violet crocuses give the picture some great color but they don't steal your eyes away from the daffodil. That's the reason so many pictures of flowers use a shallow depth of field.

You can't really tell what kind of flowers are in the background because they're out of focus. But without that lovely purple, this photo of spring bulbs wouldn't be as colorful or as well composed.

The frame is very thin because the daffodil fills the photo. Any wider and it would cut off the petals. The inner frame is interesting and its transparent... it doesn't chop off the daffodil.

Here's the same picture of spring bulbs but without the frame. Which do you prefer? Since I'm thinking of note cards, the framed shot is better. Its a nice finishing touch.

If you don't like fancy you might like the photo without a frame better.

Once you start working with frames, there's no end to what you can design. Let your imagination flow and have a good time. If you like the look but don't have the time, there are lots of frames designed and ready to apply.

Some photographers are really skilled at this and you'll find free frames to download if you do an internet search.

Want more pictures of spring bulbs? You can browse through some spring gardens. They're right here.

Compare these three photos... the first one without the frame. The background is filled with dark green foliage. They're both the same shot.

I framed it in white with a little golden-brown thrown in! It matches the brown in the stems behind the blooms.

If you look closely at this photo, its just a bit different. A little change of position... same daffodils but the angle is different and it shows some gray pavement at the top.

So the frame is white with a bit of silver-gray to match up.

How about the composition? Well, the deep yellow in the entire top half of the picture is a repeating pattern of both yellow color and petal shapes. And the stems and leaves form parallel vertical lines.

One thing... the wide frame cuts off one of the daffodil's petals on the right side. That might not bother you but in these two similar shots of spring bulbs, you might like a more transparent or thinner frame. Or none at all!

A pair of white daffodils with coral trumpets. We get to see the back and the front of these blooms.

The stem has an interesting twist to it! Its an s-curve.

The shades of green in all these spring bulbs are so fresh and rich. Lots of apple and lime green hues. Spring greens are gorgeous. No wonder apple green is in fashion every year!

Don't know if you noticed but the stronger colored flowers seem to have a much deeper green foliage. The softer shade blooms have lighter colored leaves. At least that's true for the daffodils on this page.

This white daffodil is almost translucent in the sidelighting. Doesn't it look fragile with the sun shining through the petals? I tried to match that feeling with a transparent looking frame.

Because of so many blooms in the background and its a bit busy, its out of focus. The flower just behind the main subject is not blurred enough because it was so close. I could have used even a more shallow depth of field.

Its not your typical yellow daffodil... just a hint of lemon yellow in the center. Beautiful flowers and this one's probably my favorite of the spring bulbs this year. I love this white beauty.

A pretty clump of jonquils, or narcissus... the daffodils are known by both these aliases.

They fan out very nicely and the stems angle outward in V angles. And the stems make a repeating pattern... so do the flowers.

The blooms are on the same plane and they're all in focus. I would have taken the shot from much lower but there were plants in front interfering with my shot. Sometimes, the situation you have to work with isn't perfect!

And now the same picture of spring bulbs but this time in a frame. The brown colors match the colors in the soil.

The bright white and yellow blooms pop out of the background even on the unframed photo but it seems they stand out even more with the dark frame.

This frame is quite different... all the others are mostly white and clear. What do you think about how dark it is? I think its really good with the green, yellow and white.

The dark brown frame also seems to accentuate the fan shape of the clump of jonquils.

The last shot of spring bulbs is two completely yellow daffodils and a bud with raindrops on the petals.

The flowers absolutely fill the space so there's no question about the subject!

There's only yellow, brown and green with various shades of each color. And the frame matches one of the greens. Its a much more subtle frame than any of the others.

I used this same frame in the first photo as well. If you compare the two, it stands out more in the photo at the top of the page because of the lighter colors in that photo.

The green really stands out on pink, yellow and white, doesn't it? Totally different when it blends in with the green foliage.

And a reminder again... if you really love spring flowers there's another page about spring gardens. You'll find some spring bulbs there, too. Take a look right here.

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