The Bluebell Wood

Half the world's bluebells are found in the UK. They are actually quite rare in other parts of the world.

Perhaps this explains why the sight of a purple-carpeted woodland floor is one of the loveliest images of spring. Bluebells come to life while sunlight is still able to reach the forest floor, before the woodland canopy becomes too dense.

Despite being so photogenic, bluebells aren't always the easiest subject to photograph with issues around exposure, contrast and depth of field to work around. The National Trust publishes a useful guide for photographing these particular woodland flowers here.

We're lucky enough to have woodland walks near our home so as soon as I noticed this purple carpet of our native English bluebells, I headed out with my camera as the sun was rising, which is my favourite time of day to take photos. I returned the next day to take some more photos, this time at golden hour to see how the evening light fell on the bluebells.

For more facts about bluebells, head over to the National Trust's '6 things you might not know about bluebells' page.