Sometimes I have the impression it’s thought that photographers just click that camera shutter and hey, there’s the photo!
Although I am often in denial of how much time I myself am poised next to my tripod, I would say that any one sitting is about one hour in duration and on average, I have one subject only and come away with one true keeper.
Only one photo - after an hour?? Why? Good question!
No doubt you have heard the expression - “don’t take a photo, make a photo.” And there you have the answer.
For each floral macro shot I take my time and I am very particular!
First of all, I examine the subject to choose its best side. That doesn’t always mean it’s prettiest side, it could mean its most interesting side. Then I decide how to position the flower and how best to get it to stay in that position! I often use something called a ‘Helping Hand’. They are available on Amazon, are seriously inexpensive and are incredibly useful. See below for a photo.
Sometimes I place my subject, supported by the Helping Hand in a black box - something I have covered on a previous blog. I assess the light - should it be set back far away from the light or should I move it forwards?
All the time I am making decisions about the depth of field, the quality and quantity of light and usually I am using a tripod - in which case my ISO is set at 100. An alternative to my tripod is my Platypod Pro - a great gadget!
And after each photo I am checking my histogram, adjusting the exposure accordingly. I am also checking my focus - I focus manually. I don’t have a super expensive camera and I am not happy with its focusing ability - at least not for fine macro photography, so I use manual focus to get the image tack sharp. When my budget stretches to my next camera I will tether when taking photos - there have been odd occasions when I haven’t realised, until downloading the shots onto my computer, that I missed the edge of a leaf or I didn’t quite like the angle I’d chosen. Tethering would avoid these disappointments.
And then there’s the post processing which I enjoy immensely - I find it so therapeutic! But that’s a subject for another day. What I will say though, is that no matter what you do in post, you need a good clean image to work with.
So take your time. Make decisions before you click and enjoy the entire process. Your reward will be images you are proud of.
Today’s photo, fresh off my camera, is below for you to see.
Take care, wherever you are.
Don’t forget that if you want to be notified of new blog posts, all you need to do is go to my contact page and write BLOG in the message section, click send, and I will add you to my circulation list. Thank you for your interest and let’s see what we can learn together.
