A few weeks ago, during a fine spell, I took some photographs of hawthorn blossom:
For this set I wanted to take the photographs outdoors showing the blossom in context: i.e. in the hedgerow. To the side of our house we have a hawthorn hedge bordering the road. At that time time of the year it is a mass of mostly white blossom but in places the colour does blend into a delicate shade of pink.
I believe that the above close-up of the pale pink, with the white background illustrates these shades very well.
For the second photo shown below, I am showing a cluster of the blossom in the hedgerow. Again, you can see the range of tones of this blossom all on the one tree. The colour contrasts well with the green leaves. If your monitor is of a reasonable quality, you should be able to see the difference between the deeper green of the older leaves (best shown bottom right) and the more yellowish green of a new leaf (shown middle left).
For the final photo I am showing a view along the hedge so that you can see how much blossom and colour there is. This display is not unique to me: drive around the locality and you can see masses of it along the borders of all the fields – a beautiful sight.
You can see the full set in the Nature Gallery.
Photographic notes: These were taken using just the available light. There was a light breeze blowing which meant that I had to choose a still moment before I could make an exposure. Even then many images had to be discarded because of movement blur. And, the closer you get, the more any movement shows. Patience does pay off in the end. This set took an hour or so.