XT-1, 100mm, f2.8, 1/210, ISO 400 (I would have preferred lower ISO but it was windy so I couldn't risk a longer shutter speed)
All the decisions I made to get my favourite image of the year so far. Light, background, composition. Things that didn't work so well, and all the camera settings.
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Do you struggle with auto focus when you're shooting macro? Switch it off. Use manual focus for precise control over how your final image looks.
Compare these 4 images, where the focus point only changes 2cm from the first to the last
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What do you think? Overblown, hyper-realistic, too vibrant? Or a jump-off-the-screen bundle of June floral abundance?
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The camera never lies, but your eyes will deceive you. Who knew that the shadows in a pink peony were actually yellow?
With a bit of Lightroom tweaking you can restore your disappointingly yellow peony to her pinkful glory.
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This week, one of my A Year With My Camera students described in our Facebook group how he aspires to take high key flower photographs like Mandy Disher. Amateur Photography magazine published a fantastic piece from Mandy where she describes her set up, lighting and gives plenty of tips (click here to read the post). My student was not getting the results he wanted, so I had a go at following the tutorial, and have found a couple of steps missing - mostly at the editing stage.
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When it's warm enough to shoot outside you can bring your flowers alive with some carefully placed natural daylight. Hopefully after reading this post you'll never shoot with your flowers in full sun again.
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Indirect natural window light. 100mm macro lens, f2.8, ISO 100, 1/8. Tripod, self timer.
A very simple set up today. Very soft window light coming from the right, with the flowers well into the shade to reduce contrast.
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Shaded natural daylight from top right. 50mm, f8, ISO100 1/60, tripod, self timer.
These beauties were crying out for a simple, linear photo. The background was chosen to echo the parallel lines but provide a counterpoint that emphasises the bendy unpredictable stems.
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