Bloomin’ lovely
Q
I am a gardener,
and want to shoot
the flowers in mygarden as they bloom this
year. What is the best lens
to use, and are there any
other tips you can give me?
Susie Drew
A
I wouldn’t say that there
is a single best lens for
photographing flowers, as
different focal lengths will give
you a variety of options and approaches.
A macro lens is obviously great if you want
to get in really close to photograph flower
details or insects on petals. However, focal
lengths from 50mm right up to 300mm
can have their moment.
I often find myself shooting garden
flowers at 200mm, which gives me a good
working distance and is comfortable to
handhold. Shooting at wide apertures
such as f/2.8 or f/4 provides the arty look
I prefer, and generally allows for faster
shutter speeds, so there is less chance
of slight wind movement ruining the shot.
The fact you are growing your own
subjects will give you an advantage, Susie.
It pays to photograph a flower almost as
soon as it’s opened, because it will be
perfect, and you’ll need to do less post-
production later to clean up your shot.
Take care when it comes to selecting
backgrounds. Look for complementary
colours to set your main subject against.
If you’re shooting with a large aperture for
a small depth of field, take great care with
your focusing. I always avoid windy days,
too, as it makes focusing a nightmare.
I prefer cloudy days for easier exposure,
but sometimes directional light can
help to spotlight a flower and give
your photo a different feel.Sound solutions
Q
I tried to use my
DSLR to shoot some
video clips. The
sound quality is awful: I can
hear the lens trying to focus,
as well as the whistle of the
wind. What do I need to
improve the sound?
Keith SpencerA
The actual quality of most
built-in microphones is actually
not too bad, but they do have a
tendency to pick up on handling
and operational sounds, such as the AFshifting in and out. Some wind noise can
be prevented by using a Micromuff – a
little muffler designed to sit over the
camera’s mic – but to really take your
sound to the next level, you need to
get a separate microphone that plugs
into the camera’s mic socket.
The most popular type are shotgun
microphones, so-called because they
record a very narrow area of sound right
in front of the mic. There are versions
to suit most budgets. Lavalier mics clip
onto a shirt so are useful if you want to
interview someone you’re filming or
talk to the camera yourself. They
come in wired or unwired versions.
You should also get into the habit of
plugging in a pair of earphones and
monitoring the sound while filming: you
might be able to make a simple positional
adjustment to avoid the annoyance of wind
whistle and crackle on the built-in mic.Photo Answers
Go macro if you want to
shoot flowers, although
other lenses can capture
great shots, too.An external microphone gives you far superior
audio recording quality compared with your
camera’s built-in mic, and needn’t cost much.