Eagle Eye: Photography Techniques

Friday, September 28, 2012

To capture isolated photos of flowers, use a Macro lens, Prime lens or a Telephoto lens at it's maximum zoom. This will create a very small Depth of Field. With Macro lens, you can get closer to the flowers but with other lenses you need to maintain a minimum focusing distance as per the lens specifications.
Use a Aperture Priority or Manual mode with a larger aperture (smaller f/number like f/1.8).
Since the Depth of Field is very small, focusing on one area of the flower may blur out the front and back part of the flower, but will create an interesting effect. If you want the full flower in focus, decrease the Aperture.
Use a high shutter speed (like 1/500s) if the flowers are swaying in the wind or hold them in position with hands or using a clamp.
If you are using Macro lens, use a tripod to prevent photo going out of focus. Since the Depth of Field is very low, even a small movement of the camera will make the photo out of focus.
Do not use flash directly on the flower as this will wash them out. Use a diffuser, a soft source of light or a white sheet of paper in front of the flash. Diffused lighting will give the flowers a soft and natural appearance.
Morning sun light can create beautiful effects on flowers as it is not as harsh as later in the day. Also, dew drops may be present on the flowers in the morning giving a very interesting touch to the photos.