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Part I - The Basic To Start
We all know that April showers bring May flowers. Since we've had a rainy April - witness the floods in the Dakotas - we can assume a bumper crop of May flowers. And flowers are a favorite target of every camera enthusiast. Here are a few tips to help you make your flower pictures knockouts.
When you photograph flowers, you have to make a couple of important decisions.
As with any photograph, your first decision is to decide: What's my subject? Is it a macro of a stamen? A single flower closeup? A bed of hundreds of flowers? A field of thousands? From this decision will flow many specifics of your picture.
Let's start with the macro - that is, with extreme closeups. Of course, you can only take this type of picture if your lens has a macro mode. This rules out most point-and-shoots which can't focus closer than two or three feet. With a macro, you're focusing from a few inches!
When you shoot a macro, focus is all important. Your plane of focus is very shallow - just a fraction of an inch. So you have to make another decision: Exactly what part of the flower do you want to be in sharp focus? The pistil? The stamen? A petal? (We've run out of high-school biology terminology, but you get the idea.) Unless you're a botanist, you will probably make this decision "on the fly" - that is, as you look through the viewfinder. When you see the image that you want, snap it!
While it is possible to take a good macro handheld, our advice is to use a tripod if at all possible. Since the flower is probably swaying in the wind, changing the focal point every moment, you're better off not adding the additional confusion of a swaying camera too. Use a tripod and be patient. Most often, the wind will die down from time to time and the flower will stand still and "pose" for an instant. That's the instant to shoot!
While on the subject of wind, here are some other tips: If the wind is blowing hard and steady, the flower will probably sway incessantly and fast, so that you will be hard-pressed to get the shot. Consider waiting for another time - perhaps, the next day - when the wind has died down. If you must shoot during an unremitting wind, place a make-shift shelter around the flower to protect it from the wind. A few sheets of poster board may be sufficient. (Of course, keep the shelter out of the picture!) Or tie the flower stem to a thin post (the type you will find in any garden center). Or both.
How should you expose this shot? The easy way is to trust your meter. It will generally give a fairly accurate reading in this situation. For pinpoint exposure, however, we recommend that you use a gray card or take an incident reading. (These alternate methods have previously been explained on this site. If you are unfamiliar with them, they may still be posted in the Recent Topics section.) By using one of these alternative methods, you end up with an exposure that is precisely calibrated to the light, and is not affected by the color or reflectivity of the flower.
Macro flower shots can be pretty. But if you want to turn the ordinary macro shot into an extraordinary photograph, try to add something of interest. What? How about a bee gathering pollen? Or a spider crawling inside? Or a butterfly? Or a hummingbird? Now you've got something to grab the viewer's attention beyond a pretty picture. This type of photograph may not come easy - you have to wait for the critter. But if you wait long enough and your patience is rewarded, you can end up with a really great photograph.
Let's move on to consider the shot of a single flower head. Much of what we said for the macro, applies here too. You can't get close enough for this type of picture with most point-and-shoot cameras. You're better off using a tripod. Exposure will be more precise if you use a gray card or take an incident reading. And the picture will often be improved if you can add a crawling critter.
Good focus is still important, but it's not so critical as it was with the macro. The zone of good focus is now a few inches, not just a fraction of an inch. So, while you still want to focus well, you don't need to watch focus so critically.
An added decision for you to make with this type of shot is to consider the direction of light. It's possible to take a very attractive picture with the light in its "usual" position, streaming from behind you toward the flower. But give strong consideration to backlighting - that is - light coming from behind the flower, toward the camera. Since flower petals are usually translucent, backlighting can give them an iridescent glow that accentuates the flower's color and brings it to life.
How should you decide which light is best? Easy. Walk around the flower, observing how it looks through the viewfinder from different positions. Keep a sharp eye. You may see an appealing shadow from one position. A glow of iridescence from another. Maybe you can get both together. Walk around, and then shoot from the position that appeals most to your eye.
Two words of warning here. First, when the light comes from behind you, watch your own shadow carefully. Usually, you want to avoid casting a shadow on the flower. Second, when you are shooting with the flower backlit, watch out for flare. You don't want the incoming light to shine directly into your lens producing ghostlike blobs. (You can avoid flare by either positioning your camera so that the light doesn't shine directly into your lens, or by shading the lens with your hand or a hat or any other opaque object. Just be sure that the object is kept out of the image frame.)
There's a second additional decision to make when you are shooting a single flower head. How high or low do you want the camera to be?
In other words, from what angle do you want to shoot the flower?
Once again, the answer is best determined by your eye. As you walk around the flower to watch the play of light from different sides, also look through the viewfinder to see how it looks from different heights. Don't be lazy. Lie down to see it from a squirrel's-eye view. Stand up and raise your tripod to see it from a bumble-bee's view. Let your eye decide which you prefer.
What about a bed of flowers...or a field of them? Here, you can probably use a point-and-shoot as well as an SLR. A tripod is less necessary. Focus is no longer critical - it can extend for feet or even miles. And metering with your built-in meter will probably produce a good result.
What about the direction of light? It still can make a difference. If you can check how the flowers look from different sides, by all means do so. Frontlighting may be all right. Backlighting - or sidelighting - may be better. Camera angle - that is, height - is usually less important in this type of long shot. (You should still stoop down to see if the image is improved from a low angle that will accentuate the nearest flowers.)
What should you look out for here? We think you should go back to the very first decision: What's your subject? A bed or field of flowers may look exquisite to your eye, but often makes an awfully dull picture. Look for something that will add interest to the picture. Something else that will draw the eye of the viewer and be the subject of your picture, with the flowers acting as swatches of color that complement it.
If you're photographing a flower bed, look around. Perhaps, a child playing amidst the flowers will make a far more interesting picture. Or the house behind it. Or the apple tree in the foreground? Or the fence. Or anything else you can find to draw the viewer's eye and add interest.
Do the same with a field of flowers. Is there a barn that would make a better subject? A tree? A windmill? A lone person far out in the field (Christina's world!)? A babbling stream? A majestic mountain landscape? Chances are, if you look around you'll find lots of potential targets that will add considerable interest to your photograph.
To sum all this up: Flowers are colorful and can make beautiful subjects when you're close up and they fill the frame. You're better off finding another subject, and using the flowers as an "accessory", when you're shooting from farther away.
Part II - Taking Flower Photos Further
It's springtime in the Northern Hemisphere and the tulips and daffodils are poking up around our toes. The magnolias are ready to pop and the cherry blossoms aren't far behind.
No matter where in the world you live, it's time to grab your camera, don your April-showers raincoat, and get out there among the beautiful spring flowers. (Okay, if you're in the Southern Hemisphere, it won't be spring for six months. But let's not quibble.)
When we photograph a flower close up - whether growing in a garden or peeking out of a vase - we often use selective focus. In other words, we shoot with a wide aperture (low f-number) to throw the background out of focus so it doesn't distract attention from the flower. This is a common technique that usually renders the background in muted green (of other plants) or blue (of the sky).
But the background need not be confined to these muted colors. It's possible to add drama and a sense of the unexpected by inserting a different type of background into the photograph.
These graceful white lilies pop out in this photograph because of the deep red background. Are these lilies in a garden or a vase? We don't know. All we see are the flowers against the solid-colored background.
How can you produce such a solid-colored background in your flower pictures? Simple. Place a colored panel behind the flowers! A panel of photographic seamless paper. A panel of art-supply construction paper. A panel made from a sheet or pillowcase. Anything. Choose the color you like - and place it as a panel behind the flowers. Indoors, you may need some tape or thumbtacks to fasten your background to a wall. Outdoors, you may be able to prop your background up against other flowers in the garden...or you may have a friend or assistant hold it in place.
Shadows and reflections can be part of the photo. In the picture to the left, NYI Instructor Jerry Rice used glossy blue paper as the background. At first glance, you might think this is the blue of the sky. But then you see the heavy shadow of the flower. The shadow helps make this picture! It's a wonderful part of the composition. And we know that you don't see shadows like this in the sky.
What color background? You are limited only by your imagination and the availability of supplies. Our suggestion: Use a background color that contrasts with the color of the flowers. If the flower is red, don't use a red background...etc. Neutral colors like gray, black, white, and beige are good if the flower is very colorful. If the flower is a neutral color - like the white lilies, above - a more vibrant background color is usually better.
What lighting? Any light source can do. If you're outdoors, consider natural sunlight. Indoors, you'll probably use flash. Just be aware of the possibility of a hard shadow, and decide in advance if you want your picture to include that shadow, or you want it to be outside the frame.
NYI Dean Chuck DeLaney reports that in warm weather he wanders out after dark and shoots flowers using only his on-camera flash, as in this picture of June-blooming peonies. The concentrated light of his on-camera flash gives sharp definition to the flowers. Further, because it's pitch-black out, the background is usually totally dark.
Other backgrounds. Don't overlook other possible backgrounds. Perhaps you want a background that has texture, like the slate in this picture. (Hint: To bring out texture, have your lighting come from the side.)
Or you may look for an interesting locale, as in this picture - a fine example of "Flowers with..." Here we see the tulips with...a windmill. The entire image is given added impact by the red sunset sky that silhouettes the windmill and the trees. (We quibble with the composition of this picture since the top half seems unrelated to the bottom half. It's as though it were artificially added in the darkroom. In reality, it was not!) In terms of lighting, note one thing: The natural light of the sunset sky was not sufficient to properly illuminate the foreground tulips. So the photographer added light to them with a small flash, but made sure the exposure was long enough to capture the windmill and sky too.
Interesting angles. Whether you're photographing flowers indoors or "au natural," consider unusual angles. In this picture the humble spring Crocus never looked more dramatic nor loomed larger. Why? Because the photographer got down low to exaggerate the flower's height. He also came in close to make them loom large. To get down this low, all you need is to be willing to bend over or lie down. To get this close, you need a macro or close-focusing lens. If you don't have such a lens, SLR users can consider getting a set of close-up filters which attach to your lens like regular filters, but provide magnification that allows you to get very close to your subject. A set of three such filters - each offering a different degree of magnification - costs about $40. (Caution: Make sure you purchase a set that fits the diameter of your basic lenses.)
Here's another interesting angle. In this picture, instead of using a close-focusing lens, the photographer did just the opposite - he used a wide-angle lens. And he shot from up high to look down on the flowers in the foreground. From this angle with a wide-angle lens, he can capture the flowers in the foreground as well as the mountains and blue sky in the background.
Showing droplets. Here's a tip from Sharon Gumerove, NYI's Webmaster, who loves to photograph flowers: If possible, show droplets of dew on a close-up view of a flower. The dew connotes an early morning view in a quiet garden. In fact, we used to get up extra early just to capture that dew. Then Sharon told us a trick she learned a while back: She gets up late and brings along a spray bottle filled with water and creates her own "dew" any time of day! As an alternative, some photographers use drops of glycerine (bought at the local drug store) because it won't evaporate as fast.
The main idea we want to impart to you in this article is that there are lots of opportunities for you to experiment when you photograph flowers. Look for creative and unexpected approaches. For example, we've seen interesting photographs of dead flowers, dried flowers, out-of-focus flowers, even underwater flowers. Point: Let your imagination roam. Most flower pictures are mundane. Look for the unusual. Experiment!
The more you experiment, the more interesting, exciting and gratifying your flower pictures will be.
Article reprinted with permission of New York Institute of Photography.
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