Flower Photography - The Art of Seeing
Posted on Aug 10, 2008 under flower photography |Flower photography is one of my passions.
I’ve made hundreds of photographs of different kinds of flowers in close-up (also known as macro) and in landscape. I’ve shot cut flowers and bouquets, living flowers in gardens and fields of wildflowers by the side of the road. I’ve used color film and black and white film, and I’ve used editing software to turn color images to black and white and sepia. I’ve used both digital and film cameras for my flower photography and natural and artificial light.
I’m not a very technical flower photographer. Both of my cameras have automatic or partially automatic settings that I use most of the time. I can’t explain to you how I set up this shot or that shot, or what the shutter speed or the aperture setting was (although the digital files include this information). I don’t pay that much attention to these factors. I can show you some beautiful flower photography and explain what I was trying to see through the camera and whether or not it worked the way I saw it.
Finding a new way of seeing flowers is a large part of successful flower photography. You have to take the time to look at your subject in different ways and be willing to challenge your traditional sense of what makes a good photograph. The “rule of thirds” (more on that later) may not apply to a close up photograph of a sunflower in which you are filling the frame with the bloom. Or you may look at the setup and discover the rule of thirds can be applied to some small part of the flower or a bee or butterfly on the petals.
You can take this new way of seeing as far as you like. Some photographers make stunning photographs that make you want to reach out and pick an exquisite blossom right off the page. Others take flower photography to such abstract extremes that you look at their beautiful and surreal images and wonder what kind of flower that really is. And many other flower photographers create lovely photographs that run the range in between.
You don’t have to run out and buy a special camera or lens to succeed at photographing the flowers in your garden. You don’t have to take expensive classes or workshops to develop your “eye” or have an in depth understanding of the technical aspects of photography. Just start with what you have and practice. As you practice seeing through the lens you’ll start to discover your own style and art of flower photography.
