| by Kerry
T. Giviens, MD
- BE SELECTIVE.
At a flower show , there is an enormous number of beautiful
flowers. Don’t rush to photograph the first blossom you see.
Find a plant with the best combination of form, color,
lighting and background.
- ISOLATION.
For impact, isolate your subject. Find a camera angle that
minimizes distracting elements, such as other flowers or
spectators. Take the time to try low angles, high angles, or
moving to the right or left. A wide lens aperture ( a
lower-numbered f-stop on and SLR camera) will enhance this
effect by softening the background.
- COMPOSITION.
Pay attention to the position of your subject in the
viewfinder. Putting the subject in the dead-center of the
picture is often the first instinct, but is not always the
most aesthetic composition. Concentrate on what you see in
the viewfinder, and recompose the picture until it looks the
best to you. And don’t forget to try vertical framing, as
well as horizontal.
- TRIPOD.
Because the light in parts of the Conventions Center (or
building) is varied, you may be forced to use slow shutter
speeds. In this situation, hand-holding your camera might
result in vibrations and unsharp pictures. Use a tripod to
steady your camera if it has a tripod screw-socket. If you
don’t ( or can’t) use a tripod, try to steady your camera in
other ways- nestle it on a bean bag or your coat; brace the
camera against a wall; or at the very least, take a firm
stance while shooting, with your legs slightly apart and
your elbows braced. When using and SLR camera on a tripod,
cable a release can significantly reduce unwanted
vibrations.
- PATIENCE.
When photographing flowers outdoors, be aware of small
breezes that might set the flowers in motion. Likewise,
breezes can be caused indoors by the opening of a door or
the brisk movement of people. For sharp picture, you must be
prepared to wait for all movement to cease before releasing
the shutter.
- ENVIRONMENT.
Wonderful photographs can be created by showing the
relationship of you subject to its environment. A simple way
to achieve this is with a wide- angle lens on a SLR camera,
or the wide mode on a dual-lens or zoom lens point-&-shoot
camera. Position your subject as close as possible in the
foreground.
- EXTREME
CLOSE-UPS. Flowers take on an entirely different
look when viewed in extreme close-up. Use your viewfinder
indicators to move in as close as possible, while still
maintaining sharp focus. If you are using a 35mm SLR camera,
your macro (close-up) capabilities can be extended with
accessories such as a macro lens, a macro teleconverter, or
even screw-on supplementary close-up lenses or extension
tubes for your present lenses.
- THE WHOLE
PICTURE. Consider the whole plant when you
photograph, and not just the colorful bloom. Examine the
fascinating textures and geometries of leaves, seed pods and
fallen petals.
- EXPERIMENT!
Don’t be afraid to shoot a few extra pictures. Try different
angles and different lighting. Also depict your subject from
several different viewpoints.
- LEARN FROM YOUR
MISTAKES. If your picture don’t convey what you
saw in your mind’s eye, ask yourself: “What went wrong?” If
you study your mistakes, you will be rewarded wit a greater
number successful photographs on your next outing
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