Flowers and plant pictures

Yesterday it really felt that spring had arrived!  We spent a sunny afternoon at Wakehurst, the RHS botanical gardens near to us.
I  love taking pictures of flowers and plants. I thought I would take a few pictures to illustrate a couple of techniques I use. As a family we regularly visit National Trust properties and heritage sites and before we hit the tea shop, I like photographing of the grounds.
I want to look at two things,
1. The usefulness of  a Polarising filter
2. Composition

The Polarising Filter
I generally use a polarising filter on most of my outdoor picture taking.
One of the more pricey filters to buy for your camera, but it can be used to good effects.
Essentially like a pair of polaroid sunglasses it cuts out reflections in water and reflective surfaces.
it is made of two pieces of glass which can be revolved, reducing the glare.

With a  Polarising Filter

Without a Polarising Filter

The filter reduces the glare in the water, the effect is different according the angle of the sun.

Notice my composition.

we talk more about that on our workshop days. Applying the thirds rule in composing the shot. The stream, is off centre in approx. the right hand third of the shot.The main bulk of the tree takes up the left hand third. 

With polarising filter

Without Polarising filter

Polarisers can be used to intensify colours and skies. A bit like the skylight filter it cuts through haze, and adds contrast in the sky. Shine on leaves can be reduced using this filter. Pictures will also print out better with more contrast and clarity.

Without Polarising Filter

With Polarising filter

I like to play around with layers and shapes in composing a shot. using complimentary colours  behind a plant or flower to add interest, these ar few more of the afternoon, all with the polarising filter

 

 

With close up pictures focusing is key. Try hard to make sure the camera is locked in to where you want it to focus. If its mis-focusing take it out of Auto and focus it yourself. Being in such a beatifull garden does offer lots of picture opportunities, get up close with the plants, use the macro facility on the camera and enjoy!

reflections on a workshop

So we did a full day workshop just over a week ago on Saturday 13th April. A busy day that involves, for Janine and I, allot of behind the scenes organising so that the day runs smoothly. We love having a lunch together with all the students, so the evening before I was baking rolls and making the soup as well as checking the equipment and getting it transported to the venue. Childcare and dog walking had to be sorted before workshop start time of 10am.
A new venue for us and excited about the days possibilities. A range of students, cameras and abilities. All had little experience in operating in manual mode and normally shoot in total Automatic. I love helping and showing how better pictures can be taken when you, the Photographer is in charge of the camera.

I focus on depth of field (no pun intended) We take  pictures of props I have brought in and  of each other to try and achieve pictures with shallow depth of filed, that we control. To get it right we have to consider exposure, looking at the relationship between the aperture, shutter and sensitivity settings, the ISO/ASA controls. I teach as if you are photographing  in a family/social setting, its not a tutorial on how a professional photographer works but how I, as a Professional, would take personal pictures for fun ,at events, places of interest, family day out or to record a special occasion.

I am convinced that by showing some good basic creative techniques of shooting, together with an understanding of the camera's controls, great pictures can be achieved, certainly a big improvement. I assume flash is not going to be used , as often flash on camera kills the mood, I do give some tips on how to use flash on camera in a subtle way.
The day does fly by, lots of questions , lots of aiding and guiding to a level of confidence with the camera.
We make sure everyone goes away with at least two good prints of their work. I print out on A4 Epsom semigloss Photo paper a selection of shots that the student is pleased with.
Packing up , returning home  to a dog that needs walking and a family that needs feeding, we finished off the leftover soup.