FLOWERS!Ͼ

Flowers are naturally beautiful and they are also simple, at least at first. I have been shooting flowers as a hobby of mine for four years now; I also have spent 2 ½ years trying to find what works for me as a photographer.

An instructor once told me, “flowers can be really easy, but you want them to be a huge challenge. Anyone can photograph a flower, but to do it well and with your own element (style)… now that is a task.”

I had taken that task on with nothing but problems. This is the part where I bring up the star of Mondays, the Macro lens!

Using a macro lens gives a person a whole new way of looking at these beautiful specimens. Just the fact that you could be close enough to maintain a 1:1 ratio changes how you view these obvious choices for a subject. However, learning, trial and error, and practice are what really get the images looking their best. Here you see an image of a simple wild flower beginning its blossom. A nice shot, not a total macro shot, and still there is something about the image that grabs you. The best part, it has nothing to do with the subject. The background is truly the reason this image came out as well as it had!

These dancing neutral tones project splashes of color here and there throughout. The amount of this, what we call “dead space” was not only intentional, but perfectly placed. The flower really is now become the detail to bring out the background; which, as always, is the reason this imperfect balance works so well and really keeps people interested.