Your garden a wonderful places for flowers image

Soft diffuse light. Today it’s very overcast outside, and if there were any flowers in bloom today would be the perfect day for capturing some great images. Soft diffuse light enhances color saturation, so if you wondered how or why pro photographers flower images seem so deep in color this is one of the reasons why. There are exceptions to this rule. I do some flower photography is bright or dappled sunlight but I’m usually trying to get an effect of light passing through the petals.

Look for great colors, a flower in full bloom next to a bud, and don’t shoot on windy days. Keep contrast and color in mind at all times and try different compositions each time you take a shot.

Your garden can be one of the most wonderful places to take images of flowers, insects and a variety of small birds - and if you are lucky, occasionally other types of wildlife might wander into your garden.

Flower photography can be challenging, but when done right is most rewarding. The key to getting good flower pictures is pretty straightforward - get in close. You don’t need to buy a macro lens to achieve this, a good telephoto lens on a tripod should do.

Other flowers such as the rose really look good from any distance, mainly because they are beautiful and because we know what flower they are. But just because we already know what it is doesn’t mean we need to cut corners with our photographic artistic skills.

flower to say it all.

The language of flowers is a language of love, endearment, and respect. The truly popularity of flowers lies in their ability to bring joy, and good cheer.
flowers have been the perfect form of expression, when words were hard to find. Flowers have been associated with religious symbolism, the lily signifying purity It is clear that flowers do have a very endearing language. A language that is universal, without borders.
Many words can be left unsaid to special love one when you have a flower to say it all.

Great care must be exercised when selecting and sending flowers. Considering the person and occasion for whom flowers to be send

flower image : Natural Light Still-Life Photography pt2

As a garden photographer, I aim to include flowers in all the work I do. I like to set up still life images of found objects that delight me and will hopefully interest the viewer of my photographs. Setting up plants indoors gives me more flexibility to pick the “proper” angle at which to photograph them. I set up my tripod and move single potted plants around in circles on my “studio” table (a folding card table) trying to find the plant’s best side. I take single blooms and do the same or cluster them with other single blooms and leaves to make an arrangement. I sometimes use objects to play off the flowers, as I am doing now in the holiday card series on which I am working. You can use any items that appeal to you to create an interesting subject.

I start with colors and objects that I think will look nice together. I sometimes have an idea of how I will set them up together, but more often than not, I use serendipity to start arranging objects and then see what comes of it. As I look at an arrangement and snap away, I start to reposition one object at a time, ending up with a totally different arrangement than the one with which I started. I use different backdrops and table cloths. And sometimes, I bring in new objects from my personal things when an idea hits. The objects with which I start are usually purchased especially for the occasion and become part of my treasures for future still lifes. I usually take about 50 photographs in an hour when I work this way and come up with two or three that I really like and perhaps one special treasure. I have had three sessions of holiday stills like this in the past week and only have one photo that will make it to my Christmas cards.

I hope that you can use some of these tips to create your own unique still lifes. Think outside of the box about lighting and indoor subjects to create beautiful art using natural light indoors.
flower image

By Melissa Mannon

flower image : Natural Light Still-Life Photography pt1

When I’m not outdoors photographing -- when the weather is poor or when I’m inspired by an object or floral bouquet -- I take my work indoors. This article aims to inspire you to be creative with your own photography and to try to set up your own still lifes to create beautiful art.

Indoors, as outdoors, I usually work with natural light. For the most part, no special lights are required for beautiful indoor photographs if you have a nice sunny window. In my house, the light in the eastern sun room is nicely diffused in the afternoon and this serves as a good start for lighting the scene. Lighting an indoor scene is very different from catching the proper light outdoors. Sometimes, I will use artificial light when the light levels are particularly low, for example, if I have decided to work at the wrong time of day to take advantage of the lighting in the sun room. For artificial lighting, I use my sunlamp which does a great job of imitating the sun for my moods and for my flower images. You can experiment with candles and other soft household lights too. I often use reflectors and diffusers to balance the light and highlight certain aspects of a scene. You can use a white sheet, tin foil, or colored fabric rather than fancy professional equipment to accomplish the same thing. For example, in a Christmas still-life on which I have been working, I am using a gold foil bag underneath the subject to reflect light up, get rid of shadows, and enhance that holiday glow.

I don’t generally use a tripod when I am working outdoors, but the lower level of light indoors makes it a necessity if I don’t want to use a flash. Since I am focused on one general subject in the middle of my table, I don’t mind keeping my camera stationery. When I am in a garden, I prefer to move around without the tripod. (Though, sometimes I will use a tripod outdoors if I have a particularly interesting flower and want to spend a lot of time with it or if the lighting conditions call for a slower shutter speed with a more open aperture.) A tripod allows you to hold the camera perfectly still for long periods of time. You can then keep your shutter open for longer periods without getting any blur from shaking hands.

By Melissa Mannon

flower image : A Mild Obsession #1

What does one need to do to get the perfect close-up of a wild flower? Set up a tripod, clip on camera, then snap, snap it's in the bag, camera, chip.. whatever? Maybe... but consider a few unexpected impediments first.

Finding the perfect clump of subjects (mostly the easy part), stopping suddenly or rather screeching to a halt (sometimes interesting along a busy highway)...parking and gathering up the necessary gear (easy) - then my least favourite part, lugging everything over hill and dale. Tripod, camera bag with several lenses which never seem to get any lighter and then fun, fun, fun...It seems, seemed a short distance across three fences to where the wild, gorgeous yellow number (nothing exotic - a simple daisy but a beauty!), nods in the gentle breeze..but...

Have you ever tried to climb over a fence with tripod in hand and weighty camera bag over shoulder? "Just pass them through the fence and follow", you say! In theory perfect but as is often the case when I'm out ready to shoot I have tripod ready, camera clipped in, slung over right shoulder legs extended, spread ready to go (the fact that I look like a giraffe with ungainly neck protrusions goes unnoticed) and my camera bag is old, slightly smelly and large!. So, how do I climb through the first fence, let alone the second or third in pursuit of the perfect daisy without a lot of folding of legs pushing and shoving, and unclipping of my precious digital genius first? Simple answer - I don't, I try to get through regardless. Result? The air rapidly turns blue around my head and expletives neither original nor inventive start erupting unbidden from my person. And then the final indignity as at least one part of my favourite jumper gets snagged by an ever vigilant barb! My alternative solutions: throw the gear over and hope for the best, find a gate (how many miles to the nearest?), or simply leave it all in the SUV...barring the digital genius and one's favourite 1:1 lens of course!

My final decision? Leave tripod and bag in the SUV, take the necessary, and hope that the ravages of the previous night haven't wrought havoc with traditionally rock steady hands. So then leaping like a gazelle over fences one, two and three, I stride toward the perfect clump of yellow. It's late in the season, so all the white daisies are pretty much done - rich, golden yellow it is.

Selecting the perfect specimen is next. I need to decide what I'm trying to say in the pic. Perfection with clarity - nature's form, sublime in its attention to detail or organic soft colour merging into more colour with shadowy bits - a bit of both perhaps. The magic of digital, the freedom of digital - the ability to try everything because one can! I love it. It's a revelation, a deepening of the creative urge to explore new realms without cost ...or end sometimes.

Sure, one can always argue that it leads to lack of direction, lack of planning but one can also argue in return that it extends one's vision, increases one's output and ability to see the world from different perspectives. I relish the challenge!

Back to the world of yellow! Perfection...mmmm. Unable to settle on which of the perfect choices is THE perfect choice I decide to shoot anyway, putting pen to paper or rather index finger to shutter button in order to get the creative juices flowing. As always seems to happen, I relax into it and my mind opens up to the possibilities: depth of field, front edge of a petal in focus back edge out and vice versa but mostly my mind is consumed by warm yellow. Kneeling on the ground head down intensely focused - the butt in the air angle would not be an attractive sight for any passing observer but I don't need to worry about such considerations as this mild obsession most often leads to splendid isolation.

A bit of advice - bracket everything (1 either side in ½ stops or thirds if you have the choice), shoot at the highest resolution you can achieve with whichever model of digital genius you possess and take at least half a dozen shots per chosen angle. Give yourself the best chance of capturing the one you really wanted - the perfect image, beautiful enough to grace your wall, a wall anywhere. One feels such an idiot when one has to declare it didn't quite happen because of trigger finger meanness! Digital genius is defined by trigger finger generosity or put another way - repetition is the basis of professionalism. Whatever it takes I say. Get the shot! The satisfaction is immense.
flower image

By Patrick Heathcock

flower image : A Mild Obsession #2

So a gorgeous yellow daisy mesmerises me, swaying elegantly in the light afternoon breeze, bathed in the warm light. Mmmm...emotions gently bubble to the surface, excitement foremost, followed by the deep satisfaction that I've been able to make time to return to this spot to revisit my yellow daisy. I've already shot her once...but...now another chance to create another feel, another image worthy of my wall.

As before I dispense with my tripod. An odd decision? Perhaps... but here's my thinking on the subject. Firstly this is a decision which individual photographers need to make for themselves and secondly, and please understand this clearly, there are no rights or wrongs when the intent is artistic creation.

A tripod slows the process down (a good thing), it allows for greater reflection on composition and it creates the freedom necessary to style the shot without losing the angle of view one has chosen. It also has the added benefit of helping to steady the camera considerably so that camera shake is avoided. Actually in practise that bonus can rapidly become nullified - add a little spring zephyr to the mix and suddenly movement becomes an artistic must have, with or without the tripod!

Easing swiftly on to my preference...

Shooting fashion was my world for a number of years and even though I used a tripod a lot in the studio, more often than not on location I preferred to hand hold my monster of a medium format camera (GX680). Luckily it has an autowind so cranking to the next frame wasn't a bore, but the freedom to be able to approach all shots by circling the subject to see how the world looked from that perspective was hugely stimulating. Good stuff! And oddly now that I'm shooting my mostly inanimate gorgeous yellow daisy and the like, I feel incredibly fettered when using a tripod. Don't ever let anyone dictate that there is only one proper way (ironically almost always their way - strange...). Discipline is in your approach and consistency of approach rather than just the tools.
flower image

By Patrick Heathcock

flower image : Creating a Summer Flower Arrangement

Summer is a great time to find colorful flowers to create cheerful arrangements for your home. Take advantage of this flowering season by choosing flowers in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes, such as the ones listed below:


Teddy Bear Sunflowers – a small version of the original sunflower. It grows to 3 feet in height.
Dahlias – a cheery plant of the daisy family that has full blooms that can reach 10 inches in diameter.
Scented Geranium Leaves – this plant has sculpted leaves that are available in many scents from ginger to chocolate.
Zinnias – available in a variety of colors and sizes and has a hearty bloom.
Spray Roses – a miniature version of the rose that comes in lots of colors and scents.
Perennial Salvia – a purple sprig that adds a spiky contrast to the full blooms of the other plants.
Decide on the container you want to use for your flower arrangement and fill it with water. A short bowl-like container will result in a fuller arrangement while a tall vase will result in a thinner arrangement. Garden flowers usually have thick and leafy stems which can make the water murky or cloudy. For this reason, it is best to use an opaque container such as a ceramic bowl or vase.

To design the bouquet, start by grouping the medium and large flowers (Dahlias, Teddy Bear Sunflowers, and Zinnias) in your hand until you have the desired look. Stand the arrangement next to the container to gauge the proper height. Cut the stems at an angle to help the flowers stay hydrated. Once you place the medium and large flowers in your container, tuck in the smaller flowers (Perennial Salvia and the Scented Geraniums) around the medium and large flowers. You should now have a beautiful flower arrangement for your home!

By Lesley Dietschy