Learn Flower PhotographyBlack and White Photography I like high key photography - solid white backgrounds and brightly lit subjects. My first photo course had a open project at the end so I took a series of photos in a standard setup. I place a stem vase on my white table white a white paper background behind it and strong diffuse side lighting (daylight). For some of the photos (top right three) I introduced back lighting. I think part of the reason these photos are strong is the lack of background. With color it is easy to separate a flower from it's background - bright colored plants on muted backgrounds. Black and white doesn't generally have that luxury. Don't be Afraid to get CloseMost times people will figure out what you are referring too. Flowers can survive suprisingly shallow depth of field but motion blur seems to be hard to use well. In Cultivation:
Flowers occur both in "Gardens" and on farms growing flowers for harvest or bulbs and seeds. Class 1: Macro Tulips in detail are beautiful flowers. Get close. Use a longer lens (90-105 macro's are perfect but many longer lenses have a macro mode). The trick is to watch the background. Class 2: Exceptions
The Tulips are planted in rows for cultivation. Generally these bulbs are dug up each year, separated (so you can sell some of them) and then replanted for the next years cycle. Sometimes they miss a few (left in the ground) or they otherwise get mixed. Generally farms will weed these plants out, but not always. Class 3: Diagonals in Medium Shots
The combinations of rows and the lumps in the fields allow you to stage rows behind rows or otherwise setup a stage. This isn't to the point of including background elements - this is mostly a 2D interpretation Class 4: Barns in the Background There are classic shots of old barns with the burst of new life in front. There aren't a lot of nice old barns any more so finding a good background can be a pain. Depending on the angle of the rows, you can emphasis the cultivation or the variety or the flowers. Class 4: Barns in the Background There are classic shots of old barns with the burst of new life in front. There aren't a lot of nice old barns any more so finding a good background can be a pain. Depending on the angle of the rows, you can emphasis the cultivation or the variety or the flowers. Class 5: An Ocean of Flowers
Some of these farms are huge - they seem to go on forever. Using a wide angle or a telephoto, you can capture the immense scale of these operations. In The Wild:
Watch those backgrounds Being "natural" there is a huge variety of backgrounds you can find. Using the colour of the flower you can seperate the flower from the background: Near and Far
One of my favorite composition choices (when it happens) is a sharp example in the foreground and another example blurry in the background. This can give the viewer another perspective on the flower and it's geometry. |
Wide Angle Near and Far
On very wide angles (wider than 24mm, 35mm equivalent size), you can take a near far picture with a patch of flowers, showing both an example of a flower and how they grow in a wider sense.
Tripod is pretty much required - you set your lens to it's closest macro setting, in aperture mode set it to a narrow aperture (like f16) and then move in so the closest plant is out of focus in the frame, but sharp if you use depth of field preview. I haven't mastered it - my lavender shot is blurry from the long exposure and wind, and my daisies don't have enough depth of field to render the closest plant sharp.
On very wide angles (wider than 24mm, 35mm equivalent size), you can take a near far picture with a patch of flowers, showing both an example of a flower and how they grow in a wider sense.
Tripod is pretty much required - you set your lens to it's closest macro setting, in aperture mode set it to a narrow aperture (like f16) and then move in so the closest plant is out of focus in the frame, but sharp if you use depth of field preview. I haven't mastered it - my lavender shot is blurry from the long exposure and wind, and my daisies don't have enough depth of field to render the closest plant sharp.
My widest lens is currently a 28mm which doesn't seem wide enough to do this well.
Multiple Exposures
Multiple Exposures
Another tool in the toolbox is multiple exposure trick to give a soft, dream like feeling to the image. Using a tripod (the camera position has to be 100% locked down), first a photo is taken with sharp focus, and a reasonable aperture (like f8), metered down (under exposed by) a stop or two. Then (without advancing the film) a few more shots are taken with meter down a stop further, the aperture wide open (f2.8 for instance) and the focus either ahead or behind the initial shot.
The next two shots show a normal photograph (f8, normal metering, only one exposure), and a blurred version (multiple apertures, stepped metering, 4 exposures on one frame)
The next two shots show a normal photograph (f8, normal metering, only one exposure), and a blurred version (multiple apertures, stepped metering, 4 exposures on one frame)