Photo technique in bloom
| Tuesday, Aug 18 2009 03:05 PM
Last Updated Tuesday, Aug 18 2009 03:23 PM
Images
You Report - I saw this sunflower while driving through the Edna Valley across the highway from Pismo. You might think, well, that's a forlorn-looking flower, past its prime, sort of faded. And you'd be right. But the lack of perfection is what I like. The pattern (I talked about pattern a couple of blogs ago) of the missing seeds looks like eyes. The section of darker seeds looks a bit like a mouth. In other words, when I looked at this sunflower it became anthorpomorphized for me - I saw a flower that indeed was forlorn, not really happy, a little droopy. Another thing I like about this picture is that the sky blends off of the page - so you can't really tell where the photo ends.
You report - I took this photo up on Rancheria Road in Kern County, CA. I focused on the patch of fiddlenecks running from top left to bottom right and let the rest fade out using the macro setting. This just gives some interest to the photo. A field of flowers is fantastic; this is just a way to give it a twist.
You report - I moved the horizon over to the left but didn't cut out the other side entirely. I was trying for a diagonal line from corner to corner. There are lots of exciting ways to look at something with the pattern of an orchard. Hold up a paper to this photo and cut off the left side and have the photo border be the end of the row of trees. It looks a lot different that way. I like it better like this because leaving that little bit of the other side of the row gives more depth to the photo.
Flowers are beautiful. People like photographs of flowers, but there is so much to consider: how to frame the photo, how to get a sense of shape, how to avoid over-exposing.
So many floral photographs reflect the sunlight so brightly that it detracts from the image.
One advantage to photographing flowers is that they aren't going anywhere. They may sway in the wind, but they won't run away.
You have time to get to know your subject. Look at the flowers from different angles. Observe the smaller details, get down at ground level with the flowers, or stand directly above them. And using digital, you can then take as many photos as you want.
Let me explore photos I consider especially good.
Seeing meaning in sunflowers
I saw this sunflower while driving through the Edna Valley across the highway from Pismo. You might think, well, that's a forlorn-looking flower, past its prime, sort of faded. And you'd be right. But the lack of perfection is what I like. The pattern of the missing seeds looks like eyes. The section of darker seeds looks a bit like a mouth. In other words, when I looked at this sunflower it became anthropomorphized for me. I saw a flower that indeed was forlorn, not really happy, and a little droopy. Another thing I like about this picture is that the sky blends off of the page so you can't really tell where the photo ends. Just a few patches of blue show through.
A field of beauty
I took this photo up on Rancheria Road in Kern County. I focused on the patch of fiddle necks running from top left to bottom right, and let the rest fade out using the macro setting.
This just gives some interest to the photo. A field of flowers is fantastic; this is just a way to give it a twist.
Study orchards in a new way
I moved the horizon over to the left but didn't cut out the other side entirely. I was trying for a diagonal line from corner to corner. There are lots of exciting ways to look at something with the pattern of an orchard. Hold up a paper to this photo and cut off the left side and have the photo border be the end of the row of trees.
It looks a lot different that way. I like it better like this because leaving that little bit of the other side of the row gives more depth to the photo.
So these are just a few ideas to vary how you photograph flowers. Perhaps the most important point is to take your time to understand your subject from all angles. Also, if you are after wildflowers, some years are good, some are bad, and you need to do a lot of driving around to scope out the situation.
Susan Reep is an artist, photographer and former teacher. To read her complete blog about shooting images of flowers, go to at http://susanreep.com/blog or check out other photos at http://susanreep.com.
