Monday, March 17, 2008

Spring Macros

Just living is not enough... One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.
--Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) Danish Author

Yesterday was a great day for spring macros -- overcast, but not dark and gloomy. The light was soft and evenly dispersed. In addition to having good light, the best advice I can give for photographing flowers is to get low. Very low. The ideal perspective for shooting flowers requires that you lay flat on the ground. (I recommend putting a large 'lawn and leaf' garbage bag in your camera bag to use as a tarp). Yes, people will give you odd looks, but not to worry. This perspective works because a) it's unique -- not an angle people normally see; and b) it allows you to put other flowers and colors in the background. By using a large aperture (ex. this shot is f/3.8), the background becomes soft and blurred (this effect is known as "bokeh"). Even with a point-and-shoot you can get great flower shots -- set the camera to 'macro', grab your 'tarp' and get shooting!

Click here to read more of my advice on macro photography. For recent magazine articles discussing spring macros, click here and here.

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