SunflowerHoward Moo Young, Contributor
AS A photographer, your first experience with close-up equipment will be a moment of utter surprise and amazement. Subjects that you take for granted - even the ordinary - are suddenly transformed into a marvellous image by virtue of a close-up lens or bellows, with the ability to magnify what the eye cannot ordinarily see.
You can travel into a flower's interior, exploring the exquisite myriad of tiny and beautiful structures. Close-up photography refers to images that are one-tenth the size of the life-size subject or greater.
Close-up photography does not require a wide assortment of specialised equipment. I own two lenses a Micro Nikkor 55mm lens that is ideal for flower close-ups that gives me a 1:1 same size on negative, and a 70-210mm zoom lens with macro mode that gives a 1:1.5 image. This lens allows you to shoot close from a distance, as compared to the 55mm macro that captures the image when you are physically close to the subject.
A tripod is an absolute must for maintaining sharpness, especially at slow shutter speeds, which allows the photographer to concentrate on composition and technical matters. If you are shooting a flower against the blue sky, a polarising filter helps to remove unwanted reflections and glare, and helps deepen the blue of the sky. I photograph all my flower shots with natural and reflected light to create the image I want.
The challenge of close-ups is to create an image that transforms what we see beyond itself, especially in flower photography. It's not just about the subject being beautiful, but being able to recognise what is photogenic. It also requires an understanding that technique is the servant of our ability to pre-visualise, or imagine the image we want to create.
10 TIPS FOR FLOWER CLOSE-UPS
1. Before you photograph, ask yourself "Why am I taking this picture? What am I trying to convey?" Find a specific answer. Fill the frame with what is essential to you the colour, the shape or a section of the flower, etc. Try to eliminate whatever is extraneous. Include background only if it adds to the final image. Before pressing the shutter, check the edges and corners of the frame so only what belongs in the image is there.
2. Look at flowers from new and different perspectives. Peek inside, look underneath, look from the rear.
3. Learn to use backdrops to best set off the flower. As a rule, keep the background simple through contrasting light or colour or by using selective focus. (Don't forget that you can take along your own choice of background, e.g. colour cards, velvet, etc.)
4. Develop your sensitivity to light, all kinds of light. Look for its direction, intensity and colour. Don't be afraid to photograph in all kinds of weather; determine the best uses of strong light, low light, and diffused light. A white umbrella can work wonders in bright overhead sunlight, and so can a black umbrella. Creative use of available light can transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.
5. Take a meter reading within six inches of the flower, or use the reading inside your camera. Shoot at that reading, then overexpose and underexpose by a full stop. Underexposure saturates colour and darkens backgrounds, while overexposure produces pastels.
6. Focus with purpose. In close-ups, you can't always have everything sharp, so be sure that the essential pictorial element is perfectly sharp.
7. Experiment by letting movement register at a slow shutter speed with well-planned blurs produced by selective focus.
8. Don't just shoot images of flowers, but create images with flowers. Use shape, texture, colour and pattern as a basis of composition. Look for lines, diagonals, radials, curves and forms.
9. Be patient, to cope with changing light and weather conditions. Analyse, anticipate and be ready to shoot when conditions are right.
10. Be prepared to do what you have to do to get the picture you want. Get up before sunrise, get down on the ground, wade through water, climb over fences, and keep your eyes open.
Howard Moo Young is an advertising/graphic design/photography consultant with over 40 years experience. Email: mooimages@yahoo.com
