For me, concentrating on flowers for my macro work, the answer is: either! It’s an art and as such should come from the heart. There are days when I actively want to create very precise, sharp images. Often this is dictated by the subject matter. On the other hand, some subjects very much suit a dewy, soft effect and in such circumstances I would definitely opt to go hand held, often with a large aperture. The majority of my limited edition images have been created using a tripod but yesterday I decided to abandon my tripod and, on this occasion, the choice was led by my mood! And it was indeed wonderfully liberating to approach my bunch of multi-coloured tulips from every possible angle with my camera! It was a really uplifting half hour or so - in fact it was so uplifting it may well have been almost 90 minutes! I placed the vase of tulips on the rug, in front of my favourite pink velvet armchair, and here is one of the resulting images.
So the message here is to follow your heart, and your soul will shine through in your work. Above all, have fun!
