Last night's Zoom meeting was David Boag talking about Photographing Wildflowers and he gave an enthusiastic presentation which was more practical than technical and recommended being more creative and less influenced by expert opinions and expensive camera equipment.
He used his large number of world-wide wildflower photographs to demonstrate different photography effects, from wide angle lens pictures to close and micro lens images.
His key message was that the most important decision is what lens to use, in particular the use of wide angle, standard or telephoto. As more of a naturalist than a technical photographer, David likes to use a wide-angle lens as it sets the subject in the context of the environment, providing an optical illusion, such as flowers appearing bigger than a mountain behind. This effect can be easily achieved, even on a mobile phone camera in some cases.
David also suggests that we should not worry so much about it being a bright day but think about contrast between the colour of the flower and the background. Some flowers photograph better on a cloudy day so make use of the lighting you have.
He advised that before taking a photo we should look around to decide what to concentrate on. What do you want your focal point to be, what shape or pattern. Do you want the foreground or background out of focus? To get close-up photos, get down low and try to get underneath the flower. Looking down on flowers often doesn’t work or doesn’t provide a creative photo. David also advised us not to be number obsessive. Three of something is often talked about in camera clubs, but why 3? Why not, 2 or 5? Often 2 on a diagonal can work.
Cropping is also a creative skill, and a personal choice. Do you want the ‘whole’ picture including the background environment, or just the flower, or just one bud of the flower? He recommended photographing in 3 different ways to give you options for the finished article.
As a naturalist, David enjoys photographing flowers in their environment e.g. a rock face, or beside the sea. For photographing a field of flowers there are lots of options. To get everything in focus use a telephoto lens with a small aperture on a slow speed – but it will need to be a still day! However, there are many options. Try different lenses, angles, and lighting and decide whether to have a strong foreground, to be close on a subject, or to have a focal point. For individual plants, particularly tall varieties, consider three compositions – a full length shot including leaves and its environment, move closer to show more details and then a single flower. Try it at different angles for different lighting or composition.
Lastly David reminded us that photos showing interdependence between a flower and a bird, or a flower and a butterfly are alternatives to just flowers/plants and environments.