Prince Edward Island is a great location for nature photographers all year long, but late spring can be extra special. People are getting outside, tending to their gardens, and exploring our beautiful coastline. I personally love the photographic opportunities during this time of year while watching the Island come to life after a long winter.

May has been a chilly and wet month, but we can be sure that summer is still on its way. June is here and it is a time when PEI starts to come alive. Harbours are busy with spring lobster season activity, farmers are preparing their fields, the sand dunes are coming to life with bright green marram grass, and wild flowers will soon be in full bloom.

The growing season has started and farmers are creating beautiful patterns and lines in their newly-ploughed fields. These young crops display distinct colours in clearly defined rows that work well for leading the viewer through an image. Later in the season, these same fields become solid colours bringing very different scenic views. Experiment and play with these lines carved into the landscape and take extra notice where the shadows fall and how they change throughout the day.

Soon the lupins will line the roadsides with bright pinks and purples. The colours pop out at you when you are driving, so they are hard to miss. For something a little extra special, try combining the lupins with a foggy day or an early morning sunrise. Sometimes, the most interesting images are those not created on a bright and clear, sunny day. The days in June are the longest of the year and catching a sunrise in the spring means being camera ready before 5 a.m.

A flower slightly harder to find is the provincial floral emblem – the lady’s slipper. Found in wooded areas, I have had good luck along the Bubbling Springs Trail in the National Park near Stanhope and on the Roma Trails at Three Rivers. If you do venture out, be sure to bring bug spray. It can be incredibly frustrating trying to photograph flowers while swatting flies. The mosquitos at Roma seem thickest when you’re standing still.

And if you’re really lucky, you may find a showy ladies slipper. This time of year is fantastic.  If you captured some great shots of PEI along your travels, we’d like to see them. You can share photos with Welcome PEI on Facebook or Instagram using #TruePEI.