64 AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM AUSTRALIAN PHOTOGRAPHY JUNE 2016
EXPERT ADVICE capturing wildflowers in the field
determined by how far we stop down, and the exposure just follows
automatically. It may be several seconds, or it might be a twentieth
of a second, or a fiftieth, but rarely faster than that because we
work in early or late light. We often stop down right to f/16, to get
the depth of field, but if you want a really beautiful background,
you want it out of focus, with no distracting details,” she explains.The post process
For the Breedens, retaining the most information, the most
detail, and the most accurate colour is always at the forefront of
their minds when developing.
“As I learn more and more about colour and light, and colour
management, the actual changes that I make seem to be more
and more minimal. I don’t introduce anything that wasn’t there,
such as colours,” expalains Kaisa.
“We always shoot Raw, and then to develop I use Capture One
Pro because it gives me the greatest control over what colour space
I use for both the input, the ingestion of the image, and also the
output when I export it as a TIFF. I’m really passionate about
colour management, and I always use Joseph Holmes’ DCam
profiles. I’m not a believer in one size fits all colour spaces because
each photograph has a different colour gamut.”
“I do very little in the Raw developer other than find what
colour space fits the information that was captured. Then I
export them as TIFFs into the focus stacking software. The one
we’re using at the moment is Helicon Focus. But it does change
depending on which program is most suitable at the time.”
“In the end it’s still just software, it doesn’t have a sophisticated
eye like a person does. It doesn’t have artistic judgement. So one
of the most important things I look for in focus stacking software
is the ability to edit the masks of each layer for myself because,
invariably, the software won’t get it right. You have to go in there
and finesse the masks yourself.”
“The stacks are then processed into a single master file. That’s
when I open up in Photoshop. Then I adjust with curves, bring the
contrast and detail to life to the level that it looks like you could
reach in and touch the f lower,” she says.
“Sometimes it’s nice to leave a little hint of the process
of focus stacking in a photograph because you are actually
capturing a sequence of time. It’s not just one instance, it’s
actually several seconds, and sometimes it can be up to a minute
that goes into capturing that single photograph you’re looking at.
So it’s nice when you’ve got a little ant or something scrambling
around in there looking a bit blurred, and the rest of the f lower is
looking very sharp.”
Jill Harrison catalogues her photos according to the f lower
name, shooting location or trip. “I don’t do a lot of post-production
with my wildf lower photos but in Lightroom I can easily adjust
white balance, exposure, clarity, contrast, sharpness, and so on,”
she says.
In post-production, Bruce Cooper uses Adobe Lightroom
because its image editing tools for Raw files are easy to use, and
the file management is simple. “Lightroom also has a couple of
very good tools for removing spider webs, dust spots and other
glitches,” he adds.
Wildf lower photography requires a little bit more patience
and persistence in finding the subject, and careful consideration
about the capture, but the reward is a bountiful bloom of unique
photographs. “Being out in the bush is so rejuvenating. You never
know what you might discover,” says Jill Harrison. ❂Quick tips for wondrous wildflower shots
Stanley and Kaisa Breeden: Always use a cable release if you can because no
matter how carefully you release the camera shutter, there’s always a bit of shake.
The best picture is taken with natural light, so throw away your flash. Of course flash
can help stop movement, which is convenient, but with flash you also remove all the
lovely subtleties of natural light and colour.”
Jill Harrison: “Use your viewfinder instead of the LCD screen on the back of your
camera, as this gives you a lot better control over your picture taking. Also cupping the
viewfinder held against your face helps keep the camera steady. There is a tendency
when people use the LCD screen on the back of their camera to hold the camera away
from their body which can easily produce camera shake.”
Bruce Cooper: “Shooting in bright natural light can introduce overexposed glints and
background noise. An umbrella or shade can be useful. However, in duller light, capturing
orchid colours can be difficult and, of course, slower shutter speeds introduce movement
for hand-held photography. Late afternoon sun backlighting orchids can produce fantastic
colours. Such situations are relatively rare but are worth waiting for.”RIGHT
Slender Sun
Orchid (Thelymitra
pauciflora). “This is
a fairly uncommon
white variety of
a sun orchid that
is normally pale
blue,” says Bruce
Cooper. “The flower
is relatively small,
approximately
fifteen millimetres
across, and easily
overlooked. Many
orchids have albino
variants and it
always provides
a thrill to find one.
In this case there
were numerous
white variants
to choose from,
which is reasonably
unusual.”
Nikon D800E,
105mm f2.8 macro
lens, 1/200s @ f/4,
ISO 200. Remote
Nikon Speedlight,
and snoot.