By Howard Moo Young, Contributor
SOMEONE ONCE said, "Flowers are the most beautiful things that God ever made and didn't give a soul." Every time I'm about to photograph a flower, I realise that I am face-to-face with one of God's most exquisite creations, even more so, when I view the specimen through the macro lens.
COME ALIVE
The intricate colours, shapes and textures seem to come alive as I try to focus on a particular point of interest. My sense of smell is also awakened to each flower, as its scent perfumes the air. Can you imagine what it was like in the Garden of Eden?
In Jamaica, the Creator has blessed us with some of the most beautiful flora ever created. Isn't it any wonder that each year our winning exhibit at the annual Chelsea Flower Show in England draws rave reviews from the judges? I can just imagine all the photographers and visitors having a field day at the Jamaican display.
Here are some of the blooms that I've captured on film, taken at different times of day, some wild, and others cultivated. Flowers grown on sidewalks, on the hillsides, some in pots, others in water - Red, Pink, Blue, Yellow, Purple, White, Peach, Orange, created in every colour of the rainbow with shades between. Big flowers - little flowers.
11 TIPS FOR SHOOTING GOOD FLOWER SHOTS
* Analyse the quality, intensity, and direction of light so you can use it creatively.
* Use a polariser on sunny days to eliminate glaring white highlights and obtain brighter colours.
* In close-ups, your depth-of-field will be shallow, so focus on the most important part of the flower.
* Maximise the depth of field in close-ups by closing your lens down to a small aperture.
* Keep the background simple: Let it go out of focus; isolate the subject against a single colour; or put a sheet of black or coloured cardboard behind the flower. Avoid distracting bright blobs in the background.
* Neat up the ground (without destroying the natural look), if bits of paper, twigs, or dead leaves will be distracting.
* Simple is better. Fill the frame with your subject, but don't frame your shot so tightly that you clip off the tips of petals.
* Use a windbreaker when shooting close up, since the slightest breeze will blur the flower's image. A sheet of cardboard close to the flower can shield it from the wind. And use a fairly fast shutter speed without compromising your depth of field. As a last resort, you can bring the flowers indoors. Capture these close-ups with a macro lens, a macro-focusing zoom lens, or a supplementary close-up attachment.
* Take a meter reading within six inches of the flower and lock it in.
* Change your position. Get up high - on a wall, ladder, balcony or roof - to shoot the layout of a garden; squat low to record a field of flowers that reaches infinity. Wide-angle lenses allow you to cover this view.
* Don't forget to use your tripod wherever necessary, for sharper images.
LITTLE FLOWERS
Little flowers,
Arranged in such glorious splendour,
How come you dare
Hold high your heads so fair
As though the summer days
In which you bloom,
Entrancing all with your sweet
perfume,
Stretched on for all eternity?
Why do you not weep
At the thought of your fall,
Which will come all too soon?
Why bloom at all?
For what, for whom?
Your splendour and your joy
Being so short-lived?
We bloom for Him, our creator,
And those, His creatures,
Who are able to reflect,
To translate the story
Of our transient but celestial glory,
That our glory be no more
Than a quick reflection
From eternity's mirror,
We have no care.
Nor do we concern ourselves
With whys and wherefores,
But merely live as He so wills,
To droop and die as He so desires,
Allowing fresh buds, fresh life,
To have their day,
Infinite creation
In which He never tires.
B.F. Burgess
