Floral Photography

My dad bought me a photography magazine...
It's the Digital Camera Magazine (Malaysia)...

This magazine has lots of tips and step-by-step image editing instructions...
It's quite cheap too...
It can be yours for only RM9...
I'm considering buying this every month from now onwards...
Lots of great tips for an amateur photographer like me~

The May issue featured an article - "25 Best Tips For Stunning Flower Pics"

I used some of the tips there when I was shooting some of my mom's flowers...
Do note that for some pictures you'll need to enlarge them in order view the full details...

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*note*
Pictures are all unedited unless specified...
Pictures have also been resized thus causing a drop in photo quality...
Original photos are much sharper...
Click to enlarge...
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Pic no.1
Nikon D90 w/ Nikkor 18-105mm AF VR lens, 1/25 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 250

Tip: Compositional Skills
Placing the subject slap-bang in the middle of the frame rarely works well and can result in a flat boring image. Composing with the subject off center according to the rule of thirds can instantly give your images a professional look. Flowers need room to lean into the image, not out of it.

Pic no.2
Nikon D90 w/ Nikkor 18-105mm AF VR lens, 1/15 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 250

Tip: Just Add Water
It's possible to recreate the look of a dew-covered flower by careful use of a water spray. Adding a few drops of water can really help to bring your flower photographs to life.

Pic no.3
Nikon D90 w/ Nikkor 18-105mm AF VR lens, 1/30 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 250

Tip: Watch Your Backgrounds
The background that you choose to photograph a flower against can either make or break the final image. A plant photographed with a soft, uncluttered background can stand out; a distracting, messy background can easily ruin what could have been a great shot if you'd thought a bit more.

Pic no.4
Nikon D90 w/ Nikkor 18-105mm AF VR lens, 1/50 seconds at f/6.3, ISO 500

Tip: Experiment With Flash
Used in moderation, flash can help you produce impressive images, but be careful not to overdo it. A burst of fill-flash can help reduce contrast in an image by increasing light levels in shadow areas. A small ring flash can be used to produce a shadowless close-up images.

Pic no.5
Nikon D90 w/ Nikkor 18-105mm AF VR lens, 1/20 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400

Tip: Shoot In Manual
If you'd rather take control than let your camera decide everything for you, then shoot in Manual mode. Shooting in manual enables you to choose the aperture and shutter combination that you want. Checking your histograms will show you if you need to change a setting in order to produce a correctly exposed image. Bright flowers can fool your camera into underexposing, so shooting in Manual and checking histograms can overcome this.

Source of article:
Lee Beel, "Spring Flowers", Digital Camera Magazine May issue 2009

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Hope that short excerpt has helped some of you in your flower photography...
I only reposted 5 tips because most of the rest required photography equipment (e.g. Macro lens, reflector, etc etc)...

Do give me some feedback about your thoughts on this post...

Here are some other miscellaneous shots that I took throughout the day...

Playing around with the Picture Control function...
Less saturation gives a dull feel to an image...
Great for taking emo shots~ *lol*

More saturation gives a brighter feel to an image...
Great when shooting colorful objects...
Just make sure it is not over saturated...


That's all for today...
Might be going with a friend for a photography outing later...
All depends on whether he is free or not...
Hopefully he can make it la...

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Quote of the day:
"It's a necessity, not an accessory"
-LensPen-