by Editor Lourens Durand 
Edited and published by Yvette Depaepe, the 24^th of October 2026 

‘The morning rain’ by Shanyewuyu

My wife and I were fortunate enough to join a bus tour of the annual wildflower spectacle in the fields of South Africa's Western Cape, and what a visual feast it turned out to be! The flower season normally runs from August to September, depending on the spring rains, and typically features field after field carpeted with red, yellow, blue and orange flowers stretching as far as the eye can see (even covering abandoned mine dumps in a kaleidoscope of colours).

What an experience! However, it is difficult to capture the full glory and emotional impact on camera. Apart from the crowds of fellow travellers trampling all over the scene and making clear shots difficult, the sheer magnitude of the spectacle makes it challenging to convey its emotional impact without it just looking like a mass of colour with no focal point.

I guess it is the same for photographers anywhere in the world during wildflower seasons.

I found that the best approach is to step back from the crowd, look for isolated flowers, leading lines and frames, and identify points of interest that can be positioned on the thirds in the frame, such as a farmhouse, farm implements, a lonely tree or windmills. Add a person or child having fun amongst the flowers to provide a sense of scale.
Get really close to capture the detail of an individual flower.
Try shooting upwards to reveal the underside of a flower, or flowers against a backdrop of blue sky and scattered clouds.
Add fun and feeling in a novel way!

Lighting is always important – the golden hour obviously provides the best light, but make the best use of whatever lighting is available. Even on cloudy days, the light is beautifully soft and diffused.

There are plenty of wildflower photographs on 1X that you can learn from.
Please enjoy my selection of brilliant photos taken by 1X photographers.

Lourens Durand

‘In the woods’ by Shenshen Dou

‘Morning Mist’ by Lydia Jacobs

‘Carpet of wild flowers’ by Mei Xu

‘Calla Lily world’ by Gerald Macua

‘This is the Sun’ by Henrik Spranz

‘Blooming Tuscany’ by Daniel Řeřicha

‘Poppy Bloom – Walker Cyn, CA’ by Wanghan Li

‘Poppies’ by Albena Markova

‘The Spring Bliss’ by Shenshen Dou

‘Golden Wedding Anniversary’ by Ben.C.L

‘Simply Cosmos’ by Mandy Disher

‘Walking in Toscany’ by Paolo Lazzarotti

‘Wildflowers’ by Viggo Strand Kristiansen

‘Tre Cime di Lavaredo, always great emotions’ by Alberto Ghizzi Panizza

‘Bogda and Snow Lotus’ by Hua Zhu

‘Himalayan Blue Poppy’ van Ruiqing P.

‘Rudbar Heights in Spring’ by Majid Behzad

‘On the meadows’ by Ales Krivec

‘A glimpse of spring.’ by Ylva Sjögren

‘Making Haste’ by Ryan Dyar

‘Actinotus forsythii’ by Yan Zhang

‘In the Wind’ by Yan Zhang

‘That is where I found her….’ By Charlaine Gerber