Funny, I got the tripod out after getting 34 roses for Cindy. The 27th of Dec was 34 years together (exclusively... except for about 7 months during a move. Long story) It will be 30 years married in August. She counts the married number only. I count the longer of the 2. Anyway, I couldn't resist getting a few shots. Roses are just one if the coolest flowers. I think they are great. So, see attached tidbit. Happy New Year! JC --- John Christensen Saint Charles, IL On Fri, Jan 1, 2010 at 12:32 PM, <humminboid@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > Browsing the web for photo stuff, after a less-than pleasing session > attempting photographing roses under our skylight, I came across this > little gem. Applicable to all facets of the art, too. Verrrry Interesting! > Enjoy! > > > > Rose Photography and Flower Photography > Shooting Tips And Advice* > For Those Shooting With Film > By Bob Bauer > > > *Hey Film Shooters:* I honestly recommend that you switch to digital when > you can afford it. (My opinion is that it is better in most ways except this > *:* archival storage of slides is remains a film advantage.) > Rose and Flower Shooting Tips Equipment Issues (nerd stuff) Rose > Photography Myths *1a) USE A TRIPOD!!!* Oh, and by the way, use a > tripod... *UNLESS!*...you are able to set the shutter speed at 1/125 > second or higher AND the aperture at f/ll or above. You usually need the > extra depth of focus that a slower shutter speed and a higher f/stop number > can give you. Even if you have 'Nerves Of Steel', it is very difficult to > hold your camera without shaking at a shutter speed below 1/125 second. Any > camera shaking or vibration at all will seriously degrade your final images. > > > *1b) USE A FILTER.* when the light demands it. In the shade or on an > overcast day use an 81B light balancing filter. Color balancing the light > when at the shoot is the mark of those 'in the know'. Just Do It. (Note: you > don't need the 81B filter if you are shooting with an electronic flash as a > light source.) > > *2) USE GOOD FILM.* It *really really really* pays off to use a good > professional 100 ISO transparency (i.e. 'slide') film. Professional films > are lower in contrast (a good thing in this case), and have a wider color > range. Sure they cost a bit more, but only a bit and the results are worth > it. There is a reason that transparency film has been the standard of the > professional film world like.......forever! *Don't fight it.* This also > allows you to put your pictures in slide pages and look at them easily > instead of thumbing through pack after pack of 4x6 prints. > > *3) COMPOSE THE PICTURE.* Don't just put the rose in the center of the > frame, look at the overall composition inside of the viewfinder. Always look > at the edges of the frame and compose within it. Get Artsy. Don't just put > the flowerhead in the center of the frame. Remember that you yourself may be > looking at the rose in the middle but your camera is seeing and recording > all the space around it as well. Artists think about design using the 'Rule > Of Thirds': this means that you mentally divide the screen up into thirds > either vertically or horizontally or both and balance strong and weak > elements in a ratio of 1/3 to 2/3. This simple technique is the key to good > design. > > *4) VERICALITY.* Hey... the camera can actually be turned 90 degrees once > in a while. Quit shooting everything horizontally already. Half of the world > is horizontal and half is vertical. Very, very little is square, (...but > some is... The third half of the world is square...heh heh...). The *mark > of the rank amateur* is shooting EVERYTHING horizontally. > > *5) WIND IS BAD.* Wind is public enemy number one. Shoot in the morning, > because there is usually less wind at this time. If wind levels are *HIGH*, > it is pointless to try shooting anymore. Give it up. That said, if the wind > level is *LOW*, you can usually get your shot by keeping your eye in the > viewfinder and waiting for the moment the rose is still. It might take 5 > minutes or more, but it usually *WILL* happen. Be ready with your trigger > finger and don't give up too soon. > > *6) SHOOT NOW NOT LATER.* This cannot be emphasized enough! Keep an eye on > your blooms. When they are just at the right stage, they will *NOT* wait > for you. So go get the camera *right NOW!* I mean it! This is the real key > to the best rose and flower photos. Have your camera by the door and ready > to go. I know it's a hassle, but go have got to go back inside and get the > camera right now when you see the bloom. I repeat again *They Will NOT > Wait For You!!!* > > *7) LOOK BEFORE YOU SHOOT.* Don't just point the camera and instantly fire > away from wherever you happen to have randomly stopped in front of the > bloom. Stop a second. Look around a bit, take a breath or two and think, > move branches out of the way, prune off ugly stuff and deadhead old blooms > and diseased leaves that might be in the picture. Move yourself around the > flower or bush and look at it from all angles: High, Low and Side to Side. > Personally, I find it more interesting not to snap a shot of just one bloom, > but look to see all the stages of a bloom at once. I try to find a close > grouping of blooms on the bush that show the bud, the partially opened and > the fully opened bloom or even the older finished bloom. Getting all of > these in one shot is the ideal for me. > > *8) LOOK FOR SHADODWS.* Take a close look through the viewfinder for > shadows and dark places on the rose bloom. Anything you see will be > exaggerated. Dark areas will appear black. Make sure that the bloom is > evenly lit. No mottled shadows. This looks horrible. If you see a shadow on > the bloom, look to see if you can hold back the branch that is causing it > when you shoot. A little attention here makes a huge difference. > > *9) NO FORMULAS PLEASE!* Don't JUST shoot single blooms. Boring, Boring, > Boring. Don't shoot all of your photos the same way. *UGH!* A slideshow of > that will really put people in a coma! Shoot groups of blooms, shoot the > whole plant get CREATIVE. Come at it from below or from the side. No Rules. > Get it? > > *10) DEPTH OF FOCUS.* Or Depth Of Field, is extremely important! Shoot at > f/11 to f/16 or higher in order to get the depth of focus you need with a > micro lens. I can't count the number of blurry edged rose pictures I have > seen in my life. Get with the program! > > *11) 'BRACKETING'* If you are unsure of yourself, bracket Your Exposures. > Bracketing means to shoot the same shot at 1/2 f stop below and 1/2 f stop > above your main exposure, resulting in 3 photos of the same subject at 3 > different exposures. Realize that even the most perfectly accurate meter > isn't slways enough with film because variations in processing occur at most > photo labs. > (This is another one of the *major advantages with shooting digital*: you > can see what you have right on the site, and if you have a camera with a > histogram on the menu, you can see exactly if you have obtained all of the > information available simply by looking at the histogram curve.) > > *12) THE "SUNNY 16" RULE.* Says: ISO 100 film on a sunny day, shoot at > f/16 at 125th of a second. If using film, bracket your exposure at f/19 and > f/22 for light colored (white, yellow and light pink) roses, and f/13 and > f/11 for dark (red, purple, blue and black) roses. Especially blue ones > (grin). > > *1) *Try To Buy A* FIXED FOCAL LENGTH CLOSE FOCUSING LENS.* These lenses > are correctly called 'Micro' lenses. Although some companies call them > 'Macro' lenses. (Although Zoom Macro lens *will* work if that's all you > have.) > > For *35 Millimeter Cameras:* The 90 to 100mm focal length gives you a > better working distance from the subject when you are shooting close ups, > say, of the inside of the flower head. The reason: you need a bit of a > working distance from your subject that you can't get as easily with a 50 or > 60mm micro. Don't forget also to regularly use wide angle lenses when > shooting in the garden, even close up. > > For *Fixed Lens Point and Shoot Cameras:*, You're kinda stuck with what > you've got, so when buying one, make sure that it has close up capability > and a good zoom range. Favor wide angle over telephoto capability, that is > really what is needed in the garden. Close up is very important when > shooting roses and other flowers. > > *2) FILTER INFORMATION:* It will pay to invest in an 81B light balancing > filter for shooting in the shade or on overcast days. It will really improve > the look of your pictures. > > *3) GET A STURDY TRIPOD.* Not a flimsy one. Bogen imports a good one > (actually made by Manfrotto of Italy) for around $150 US. The lighter weight > (Carbon Fiber) tripods, though expensive, will make it more likely that you > will actually use your tripod. (Don't forget that if you are shooting in > bright sunshine with the sun at your back, you don't necessarily need your > tripod.) > > *4) REPEAT: GET GOOD FILM!* Yes, I'm saying it again. Buying quality film > cannot be emphasized enough. Bite the bullet and buy professional films Or > whatever the lastest and greatest is. (I've lost touch myself.) Forget the > rest. Don't *EVER EVER NEVER EVER* use the color saturation enhanced films > like Fuji Velvia or Kodak VS. I would also recomment to stay with Film ISO > speeds of around 100. The faster films will lead to decreased quality of > your images. And stay away from the super cheapo off brand amateur films! > > *5) SCANNER STUFF FOR FILM SHOOTERS:* If you want to put your photos on > the web. *Have them scanned by your local quick lab when they are > processed!* OR buy a film scanner. There are great affordable flatbed > photo scanners make by Epson that will allow you to scan your 35mm slides at > up to very high dpi non interpolated resolution. That is much more than > decent quality at a reasonable price. Don't forget ebay to buy a used one > either. These aren't the world's fines scans, but absolutely quite good > enough. > > *6) My ROSE PHOTOGRAPHY NERD GEAR:* > > At the close of my film days I used to use a Nikon F100 with a 105mm f/4 > Micro-Nikkor lens. Or a 60mm f/2.8 AF Micro Nikkor for extreme close ups. I > usually metered manually with a Pentax digital spotmeter. I used a bogen > 3221 tripod with a bogen ball head. I use a cable release for the camera. I > shot mostly Kodak E100G or something similar film. Though color negative > films scanned by your local Costco or drugstore will work just fine. I > edited my film directly into the garbage can, keeping only the best > exposures, and files images by name and category in my stock file in > polyethylene slide pages. Labeling the photos by name as soon as possible is > the only way you can keep up with the task. So just do it. > > *7) COMPUTER MANIPULATION INFO:* > > I myself scan my 35mm slides with my Epson Perfection V700 Flatbed Photo > Scanner, then bring them up in photoshop. First, I crop, then I clone out > any specks or background defects, adjust the color balance, brightness and > contrast using the curves tool, and lastly sharpen using the Unsharp Masking > tool befire saving them as full sized Tiffs. > > For prints I save as full sized Tiff files at 240 dpi times the natural > pixels of the image. I enlarge the size just prior to printing if I am going > to increase the size of the file. > > For the web, I then change the color mode to sRGB and resize them at 72 dpi > for web use. I next apply more Unsharp Masking for the final web file. All > is then labeled and catalogued in my database program,Extensis Portfolio. > Finally my hard drive is regularly backed up with mirroring (not backup!) > software with an external hard drive. > > *Time To Reach Into That Wallet/Purse and Pull Out The > Plastic*.........sigh..... > *1a) "YOU CAN'T SHOOT ROSES IN THE DIRECT BRIGHT SUNLIGHT"* Don't listen > to this old saw. You can shoot in absolutely any light conditions, provided > you know what you're doing. You can't be very creative if you shoot > according to a formula. > > *1b) "YOU HAVE TO SHOOT IN THE 'SWEET LIGHT' OF EARLY MORNING OR LATE > EVENING FOR GOOD PICTURES"* Bunk!!! If anything this will shift the color > of your rose photos to the yellow end of the spectrum. If there is light, > you can shoot. Even in the dark, you can shoot with your electronic flash. > > *2) "FILM RESULTS IN HIGHER QUALITY PHOTOS THAN DIGITAL CAN GIVE:"*Well,... > actually it does.... > *IF You Are Shooting 8x10 Film.* But you aren't and neither am I (Although > I used to). Digital photography is here all the way and it is ubiquitous. It > is better in almost every conceivable way. It is less expensive, more > forgiving and because of that, less skill is needed to produce great images. > It is true that it is a little expensive to get good quality results. You > definitely have to invest in some gear in order to achieve quality. But you > can now do with $1000 what it used to take $10,000 to do a few short years > ago (assuming you already have a computer). Digital photography allows you > to see what you have on the spot and correct your mistakes. And there really > isn't ANY visual effect that film can do that digital can't. That is the > fact, Jack > > *3) "Fuji Velvia Kodak VS, or other super color-saturated film is great > for roses, it's soooo colorful"* Nope! Sorry. Don't believe it. These > films are waaaay to contrasty and color inaccurate for our purposes. Velvia > colors for example are the most inaccurate of any film made. (They did it > this way on purpose to make all of the colors bright.) Use something else. > Preferably a lower contrast professional color accurate film. When shooting > flowers, you definitely will want to keep with the more natural look if what > you are trying to do is represent accurate looking pictures of you favorite > varieties to others. > > *4) "I'M JUST NOT A GOOD PHOTOGRAPHER, ART IS NOT MY THING"* Baloney! Hey, > it's a simple skill that can be learned by anybody. Just like riding a > bicycle, get back on and try again. But don't forget to pay attention this > time. I love this oh so true aphorism by Malcolm Gladwell: *"Talent is the > desire to practice"*. And for the record: ART is everybody's thing. We are > all naturally creative, we just need to *LEARN* how to tap into this. > > *5) "I DON'T NEED TO KNOW ANYTHING FOR THIS, COME ON NOW, WITH MY AUTO > CAMERA IT'S JUST POINT AND SHOOT THESE DAYS."* You don't have to know a > whole lot, but you HAVE GOT TO to pay attention to a few details. It really > *pays off to think* before you shoot. The less you know the worse your > photos....PERIOD. > > *6) "THERE IS SUCH A THING AS 'THE BEST PHOTOGRAPH' OR 'THE BEST > PHOTOGRAPHER'"* Don't Buy into this silly stuff. In order to be a good > artist, you have got to leave the competitive spirit behind. You have to > believe in your own taste. You can't match it to someone else's ideas. All > that you've got as an artist is your own sense of what looks good. If you > lose that taste, that edge of knowing what looks good, you become truly > clueless. Don't try to copy others. You know what you like......SHOOT THAT! > If you are pleased with the look of your photograph, you are developing > taste and style. A taste and style of your own. Follow that innate sense of > what looks good to you. >
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