Come on, admit it, you really didn't do much shooting while the snow was on the ground and the frost was in the air did you?

We all tend to shoot less during the winter months. Even if you're in a part of the country where the weather is a bit milder. After all the foliage isn't very good and we somehow get wrapped up in other things - especially around the holidays. As a result we all get a little rusty photographically.

Now the buds are on the trees and the smell of spring is in the air. So I present to you a simple little photo exercise to indulge the spring fever we're all feeling and to shake the rust off your photographic skills at the same time.

Leave for work 45 minutes early or plan on coming home late one night this week. Then instead of taking your normal route home from work detour off onto those little back roads that seemingly lead off to nowhere; and start looking for things to shoot. 

I did just that yesterday when driving back from a meeting and I was surprised at what I found just minutes off a highway I'd driven for years. After work that evening I did the same thing and was again pleasantly surprised at what I found just off the beaten path. Even in busy New Jersey you'll find old barns and pastoral scenes. 

And there will be surprises. Who would have thought I stumble on a herd of alpacas in New Jersey! It's truly amazing what you can find when you take your mind out of commuter mode and start searching out images.

This is the time of year it really pays to keep a camera in your car. You never know what you might stumble across. And it doesn't even have to be your full SLR rig. These shots were all taken with a little 3 megapixel DiMAGE XT. Since this is mostly an exercise in shaking off the rust and working on your eye and composition, big megapixel counts and high end glass needn't be part of the equation.

So indulge your spring fever. Get some new roads under your tires and some grass under your feet. It's time to get out and shoot!

The First Flower of Spring Driving along the lakeside I spotted this lone flower. The first flower of spring.  Three days later it had been joined by dozens of others.

	Pastoral Scenes A young alpaca gallops across a field in southern New Jersey.  Alpacas in New Jersey? It's amazing what you can stumble across just minutes off your normal commuter route. It turns out these docile animals once raised by the Incas are becoming popular in the U.S. for their fine wool and gentle disposition.

All shots using Minolta DiMAGE Xt. Some shots were underexposed 
1/3rd to 2/3rds stop to increase saturation.

  Subscribe to Vivid Light 
Photography by email 

Tell Us What You Think