Nature Flower Photography
Recently there have been a few shots that led me to think more about the different ways to photograph a wild flower. I thought perhaps by making some note of these ways I might remember them for the future, and so improve the images I produce.
The image above is of a flower I still can’t name, but I liked the striking yellow colour down at the beach. This one is taken into the light and I was fortunate to have a background which was not so well lit, which was easily diffused with the telephoto lens. I think it works even though the flower is not fully open. So I should take more against the light for a different effect.
The next one is a reverse of this i.e. the background is well lit and the flower is in shade ……..and no back-lighting.
Now this is quite a complex flower and if strong sunlight had played upon it, I would have produced loads of strong nasty shadows. I didn’t think too much of this at the time but taking an image of intricate shapes in the shade is a good practice to remember. The background was however too bright and had to be darkened down quite a bit. I guess I should always look at the light on the background too.
The next image was even trickier in that it was really deep in shade. I’ve never noticed this flower growing wild before – maybe it’s not even a wild plant.
The lighting was so poor, my camera required a wide aperture and it’s only partly in focus. But for me it’s still been worth it. Big leaves in the background are lit but not too strongly. So, I shouldn’t worry if it’s far from perfect, for me, it’s a nice moody image. So, take the shot anyway, it might work out.
Finally, back at the sea shore, just a few meters from the yellow flower at the top, I found clumps of Sea Aster. Using a wide angle lens, I went in close for an environmental portrait of this plant. I was trying to show not only the plant but the type of habitat that it thrives on. In this case the edge of the beach.
I guess it might have been a more stunning image if the flower had happened to be bright yellow…..but it’s not.
So I’m maybe rediscovering again different ways to capture flower images (I keep forgeting what I’ve done in the past), but hopefully I can remember in future to shoot around the plant from different directions with different compositions. And importantly, take more time to do it.
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