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Creative techniques There are so many types of flowers
and set-ups to try that photographing flowers can always be
made to feel fresh, especially if you inject some creativity with
unusual processing or in-camera techniques, such as multiple
exposures. If the flower or scene seems a little too bland or the
background isn’t ideal for a straight shot, I'll set my in-camera
multiple exposure facility and fire off three to five frames that are
blended together for a soft, ghostly image. Sometimes, I’ll move a
flower between frames, adjust my zoom, tweak my focusing or
overlap with different flowers, but I’ll always get at least one shot
sharp and never take more than five frames. No two blended
images are ever the same and you can get some really interesting
results. Adding textures to floral still-lifes is also a good way of
freshening up your photography in post-production. You can
build up your own bank of textures to overlay by photographing
abstracts, such as weathered doors, rust or wood, or find free
examples online. The process is simple: add the texture on top of
your image and change its Blend Mode to Soft Light before
reducing saturation for a beautiful painterly effect.6
Bluebells A carpet of wild flowers filling a woodland floor can be
a remarkable sight, but you don’t need many for great images; the
above shot was created using just a 15ft patch of bluebells. Usually
blooming from the end of April through to June, depending on where
you are, bluebells tend to look best during May. Seek them out in early
April before they flourish to prepare and photograph them before the
canopy is full and the woodland is dark; there's usually a two-week
window when the bluebells are at their best. Aim to be in the woodland
for the first or last light of the day, although you may have to wait for
the sun to pass any obstructions. Look for mornings that combine
mist with a soft, low sun to get beautiful rays of light for atmosphere.
Unless it's overcast, avoid shooting in woodlands around midday when
contrast will be high. When looking for your compositions, look for
trees that are spaced out rather than clumped together and head to
the edges of the woodland for the best chance of capturing light
between the trees. Position yourself so the sun is partially or fully
obscured by a tree to avoid flare or take two pictures, one with the sun
in the frame and another without so you can blend them in Photoshop.July 2019 Digital SLR Photography 79