Flowers, Pretty Flowers · Tonight’s Objectives Share some ideas Show some techniques Inspire and encourage Flowers, Pretty Flowers

Flowers, Pretty Flowers

Ron Wybranowski

September 15, 2011

Tonight’s Objectives

Share some ideas

Show some techniques

Inspire and encourage


Why Photographing Flowers is Important

(particularly at home)

Create beautiful Images

Learn how your camera works

Learn how Photoshop works

Limited equipment requirements

Convenient & low-cost

Quiet & peaceful


Photographing Flowers

(particularly at home)

Controlled lighting

Controlled environment – no wind

Easy to experiment

Fast turnaround

Easy to find flowers at Stop & Shop







Level Playing Field for Competitions

Everyone is equal

Cultivated flowers are Not “Nature” – So anything goes!

No travel requirements

No exotic animals

No foreign locations

No need for a f4 600mm lens



Photographing flowers at home prepares you

for photographing flowers in the field



"Remember: If you can’t make good

photographs close to home, then you won’t

make good ones at a more exotic location

either."

Joe LeFevre


“Art is the only way

to run away

without leaving home.”

Twyla Tharp


Tonight’s Program

Equipment

Places to Photograph

Photographing Flowers – Making the Image!

Developing the Negative

Flowers, Pretty Flowers –

with help from a few of our friends


Richard Ferland

Armand & Joan Francoeur

Gary & Judy Hoyt

Dick Morton

Sarah Musumeci

Bob Ring

Sandy Thomas

Flowers, Pretty Flowers –with help from a few of our friends


“Every day strive to be a better photographer

a better visual storyteller, and everything

you learn, share it openly with others.”

“Don’t prove yourself; improve yourself….

and then share it.”

Dewitt Jones

Outdoor Photographer MagazineApril, 2011 Issue

Required Equipment

Almost any Camera will do



Nikon D7000 & Nikon 18-200 ¼ sec. @ f11 Nikon Coolpix S57o – 1/50 sec @ f5.4

Required Equipment

Almost any Camera will do

Macro Lens 2.8 105 or 150 Macro is most

common (and probably the best!)

Any good kit lens

Camera’s Live View

Mirror Lock Up or Exposure Delay Mode (Nikon)

Cable Release (or use timer)

Tripod


Required Equipment – If outside

Knee pads

Plastic sheet for lying in the mud

Reflector to provide shade & protect against wind

Shower Cap for camera in case of rain

Water spritzer in case of no rain

Ties or clothespins to hold back unwanted foliage

Small clippers or scissors for selective pruning


Optional Equipment

Extension Tubes


Kenko Auto Extension Tube Set DG (12, 20 & 36mm Tubes) - $168

Optional Equipment

Flash or Fixed Lights


Utility Light and 5000k Bulb from Lowe’s - $15

Optional Equipment

Close Focus Filters


Tiffen 52mm Close-up Lens Set (+1, +2, +4) $32


Optional Equipment - Light Box

Bob Ring – Small SetupFlotone Gradated Background 31” X43”

$35 @ B&H or Calumet

Ron Wybranowski – 30” Light Box –$45 at Amazon


Optional Equipment - Light Box

Ron’s Minimalist Set-up - $12 at Jo-Ann FrabricsBlack Velvet Draped over TV – Natural Light

Optional Equipment - Scanner






Places to Photograph – Local

Home garden

Stevens-Coolidge Place – N. Andover, MA

The Bridge of Flowers – Shelburne Falls, MA

Sugar Hill – Sugar Hill, NH

Prescott Park – Portsmouth, NH

The Andover Flower Farm – N. Andover, MA (Ask Permission First)

Garden in the Woods – Framingham, MA

Tower Hill Botanical Garden – Boylston, MA


Places to Photograph – Local

The Rhode Island Spring Flower and Garden Show http://www.flowershow.com/

Rhode Island Nature Trails http://www.visitrhodeisland.com/what-to-do/nature-trails/garden-nature-trail/

Rotch-Jones-Duff (RJD) House and Garden Museum – New Bedford http://www.rjdmuseum.org/

Blithewold Mansion, Gardens and Arboretum http://www.blithewold.org/

I Love Gardens http://www.ilovegardens.com/Rhode%20Island%20Gardens.htm


http://www.flowershow.com/

http://www.visitrhodeisland.com/what-to-do/nature-trails/garden-nature-trail/











http://www.rjdmuseum.org/

http://www.blithewold.org/

http://www.ilovegardens.com/Rhode Island Gardens.htm

Places to Photograph

If you can travel!

Great Smoky National Park – April through SeptemberWildflower Pilgrimage – April 25-29, 2012 http://www.springwildflowerpilgrimage.org/

Colorado - JulyOuray - Yankee Boy & American Basins

Crested Butte – July 9-15, 2012 http://www.crestedbuttewildflowerfestival.com/

Rocky Mountain National Park

Top Wildflower Destinations http://www.rvparks.com/rv-trip-ideas/51-trips/71-top-widlflower-destinations


http://www.springwildflowerpilgrimage.org/

http://www.crestedbuttewildflowerfestival.com/

http://www.rvparks.com/rv-trip-ideas/51-trips/71-top-widlflower-destinations













Resources

Tony Sweet http://www.tonysweet.com/index.html

Fine Art Flower Photography

Andre Gallant http://www.andregallant.com/index.html

Freeman Patterson http://www.freemanpatterson.com/index.htm

Photo Impressionism And the Subjective Image

John Shaw http://www.johnshawphoto.com/Index.html

Focus on Nature


http://www.tonysweet.com/index.html

http://www.andregallant.com/index.html

http://www.freemanpatterson.com/index.htm

http://www.johnshawphoto.com/Index.html

Resources – Great Images

Martin Gommel http://www.digital-photography-school.com/41-delicious-flower-photographs

50 Beautiful examples of flower photography http://www.noupe.com/photography/50-beautiful-examples-of-flower-photography.html

Virginia Saunders http://www.florigraphy.com/prints/v/botanicals/?g2_enterAlbum=1

Designzzz http://www.designzzz.com/most-beautiful-flowers-photography/

Photo.Net Editors’ Picks Flower Photography http://photo.net/editors-picks/2010/flower-photography/


http://www.digital-photography-school.com/41-delicious-flower-photographs











http://www.noupe.com/photography/50-beautiful-examples-of-flower-photography.html











http://www.florigraphy.com/prints/v/botanicals/?g2_enterAlbum=1

http://www.designzzz.com/most-beautiful-flowers-photography/







http://photo.net/editors-picks/2010/flower-photography/





Photographing Flowers Composition Rules

Rule of Thirds

Balancing elements – Odd numbers are best

Color

Background

Depth of field

Leading lines

Symmetry & patterns

Viewpoint

Framing

Cropping

Experimentation – a newer idea because of digital

And remember, rules are meant to be broken



Bob Ring

Simplicity

Juxtaposition

Depth of field

Shadows show form

Repeating pattern

Dramatic colors

Soft background


Photographing Flowers – Bob Ring

Rule of thirds

Separation

Simplicity

Creative crop


Photographing Flowers – Sarah Musumeci

Creative making of an image

Very different view

Perfect exposure

Symmetrical

Horizontal pattern

Great lighting

This is Fine Art!

There are actually only

three lilies photographed

4-5 times from different

angles and then combined

In Photoshop….

Remember Anything goes!


“If the goal of photography was

to make objectively accurate

reproductions of the real thing,

I wouldn’t bother”

G. Dan Mitchell

http://www.gdanmitchell.com/


http://www.gdanmitchell.com/

Photographing FlowersOdd numbers really are best


There’s one thing in the middle to give it balance.

Two are like opposing forces in a tug of war!

Odd numbers really are best!



Indoors

White background for hi-key

Black background to make colors pop

Gray background to help with selection



Use f4.0 – f22 to put key elements in focus

usually f8 -> f16

Focus on leading edge

Put key elements on same plane

Work the scene…. really work it!


Photographing FlowersOutdoors

The sun is not always your friend!

Mottled look is not good – Use reflectors to shade/filter

Use reflectors to block the wind

Tie back intrusions

Clean up background outdoors

Use tree leaves to fill in the background








Photographing Flowers – Black & White



Sarah Musumeci

Photographing Flowers – Black & White


Ron Wybranowski


Ron Wybranowski


Ron Wybranowski


Ron Wybranowski


“The negative is comparable to the composer's score and the print to its performance. Each performance differs in subtle ways. “

Ansel Adams



“Photography is more than a medium for factual communication of ideas. It is a creative art.”

Ansel Adams



Lens Corrections Profile if using Lightroom

Camera Profile if using Lightroom

Crop

Exposure/recovery/fill light/blacks

Brightness/contrast

Clarity/vibrance/saturation

Tone Curve

Sharpen

Noise Reduction



Adding a soft out-of-focus background

Make selection

Create a background layer

Apply Gaussian blur

Erase selection from blurred layer

Fine tune edges

Also - See Matt Kloskowski tutorial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmN5cHBfOLw&feature=related



Developing the Image

Richard Ferland’s Graduated Background Template

Open template and save with new name

Open image and make selection

Copy and paste selection to renamed template

Copy and paste additional background if wanted

Select gradient to use

Apply color to gradient to make image elements


“Experience is the name

everyone gives to their

mistakes.”

Oscar Wilde


Flowers, Pretty Flowers –

from a few of our friends

Documents

Flowers, Pretty Flowers · Tonight’s Objectives Share some ideas Show some techniques Inspire and encourage Flowers, Pretty Flowers