Like a lot of photographers, I shoot most of my flower and garden
photos either very early or very late in the day. The light is much
gentler early and late in the day and there is less glare and fewer
contrast issues to deal with. In particular, I love the light in my
front garden
late in the day because that part of the yard gets the late-afternoon
and setting sun, so
the light is not only soft but also very warm. In fact, some of the
prettiest flower shots I've ever taken were made in my own relatively
small front garden simply because I'm often there late in the day (and
I always keep a tripod and camera nearby).
The problem with shooting late in
the day though is that the light is disappearing fast (as opposed to
early morning when the light just keeps getting brighter) and so sooner
rather than later you run out of good light. The light is often
prettiest just before it disappears but because it's so dim I have to
shoot wide open and often at very slow shutter speeds that I'd prefer
not to use. Since I use a tripod most (not all) of the time, the slow
speeds aren't a problem in terms of camera shake, but if there's the
slightest breeze the flowers just wave back and forth continually--a
real problem if you want sharp photos.
The solution for me is to
turn on the built-in flash. The flash fires at such a brief duration
that it's like using a much faster shutter speed--it freezes the motion
and, if I am shooting handheld, usually eliminates any camera shake. In
addition, because your camera will pump out more flash if you set
smaller apertures, you can use a smaller f/stop to get a bit more depth
of field (and usually you need all the DOF you can get in close-ups).
Because most digital cameras are very good at balancing flash in
daylight, you'll get suprisingly good results that don't look
artificial at all. I used my Nikon D90 here (with a 105mm Micro Nikkor)
and I had to look at the EXIF data to see if the flash had fired or not
(it had).
If
you find the flash is too harsh (particularly if you're using an
accessory flash which is more powerful), consider using a small light
modifier like Lumiquest's "Pocket Bouncer" (www.lumiquest.com) to
soften the light. I use the Pocket Bouncer a lot in close-up situations
because all I'm trying to do is bring up the intensity of the light a
bit without destroying the quality of the existing light.
So if you're out in the garden or in a park and the
light starts to fade, try popping on the flash and keep shooting a
while longer. I think you'll find the results are surprisingly nice.
I photographed this poppy using backlighting to make the petals translucent, but I added fill-in flash (from the built-in flash of my Nikon D90 DSLR) to retain some surface detail on the near side of the blossom. The camera automatically provides just enough light to illuminate the flower without overpowering it. But if you think the flash is too strong, most DSLR cameras also have a flash-compensation button that lets you dial down the amount of flash fill. Look in your camera manual's flash chapter.
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Entire Site Contents Copyright 2012 Jeff Wignall
An Ambitious Dogs Production In Association with Boo Boo & Mama Cat Films Please also visit my Photo Tip of the Day blog.
