Digital Photographer - UK (2020-06)

Trydifferentbackground styles

Alternativebackdropsoffervariedcolourthemesandimageaesthetics

NATURALDIFFUSED

Bycombiningalongerfocallengthwithanaperture

off/2.8tof/5.6,naturalenvironmentaldetailsare

reducedtocolourfulbokeh,forsubtlecontrasts.

ARTIFICIALSEAMLESS

Forastudio-shotlook,placeasheetofblack,whiteor

colouredcardbehindthesubject.Alwaysuseawhite

balancepreset,asAutoWBcanbecomeconfused.

Onethebiggestmistakesphotographers

makewhenshootingimagesofplants

andflowersisintheirchoiceofangle,

predominantlycontrolledbycameraheight.

Pointingthelensdirectlydownontothe

subjectwillrarelycreatethemostinspiring

image,asweseeplantsfromthisperspective

withourowneyeseveryday.Lowering

thecameratoshootyoursubjectfrom

90 degreeswillprovideamoreimmersive

view,whileloweringthesetupevenfurther,

toshootupatyoursubject,givesaunique

insightintolifeinthemacroworld.

Varycamera angle

Changeyourshootinganglefor

eye-catchingplantperspectives

TOPDOWN

PERPENDICULARPERSPECTIVE

BEETLE’SEYEVIEW

The next element to think about is lighting
and exposure, particularly relating both of
these back to the environment that you’re
shooting in. As an example, wild flowers
in an open field are likely to be subject to
changeable winds, especially taller specimens,
which would suggest you need to use
higher shutter speeds. However, unless the
background is well-illuminated, this can

result in exposure fall-off,producingunsightly

shadows. A good understandingoflighting

ratios is therefore required,asistheflexibility

to work around air movement,ifsharpimages

are to be captured.

Dotted around this page,we’lldelveintoa

few compositional tips,whiletroubleshooting

plant and flower studiestohelpyouachieve

successful images.

Farleft

Morethanastudy

Bytreatingtheflowerand

thebackgroundasequally

importantcomponents,itis

possibletocreateimagesthat

functionasengagingartworks,

ratherthansimplyrecordingthe

flowerasascientificspecimen

© Peter Fenech

© Creative commons

x3

©

Peter

Fenech

SHOOTING

DIRECTION

Shoot perpendicular

to wind direction, as

side-to-side subject

motion will affect

the focus-plane

position less.

WIND

PROTECTOR

Monitor wind

direction, and place

a screen to reduce

subject movement.

MASTERRMACL3TS2ACC