I always feel that the very worst way to open a presentation or article is by quoting a definition. That's why I'm just going to flatly tell you that the word 'wildlife' covers not only animals, but plants too. And how many plants have we covered here so far? Well, none. Hence today's installment on wildflowers.
I love wildflowers. Sadly, if you browse through one of the several million photographer message boards you will find nothing but contempt for folks who take pictures of flowers. How exciting could flowers be after all? They don't even move, right?!
Or do they?
As it happens, flowers do move. Ever hear of the wind? The faintest of gentle breezes will make flowers bob around, and this is just one of the reasons why getting high-quality, sharp flower images can be a challenge. You have to be patient and wait for a moment of dead calm to get your shot. You're most likely to encounter these conditions in the early morning and, to a lesser extent, the late evening. To get sharp flower images you should also focus manually and always use a tripod. Always.
Another challenging aspect of flower shots is that it's ridiculously easy to overexpose them. We like flowers because they're colourful. A digital camera records images in three colours, Red, Green and Blue, but most histograms (that graph thing which helps check your exposure) measure in black and white only. This means your camera may be telling you the exposure is correct when in fact it's completely blown out in one or more colour channels. If you overexpose a flower this way there is no way to fix it in post. Can't be done. So always underexpose flowers by at least three-quarters to a full stop. If you have Photoshop or any other editing program you can then make a levels adjustment to make your image brighter and contrasty. Also realize that flowers are very reflective, so never shoot them in direct sunlight. Avoid flash for the same reason.
As far as the depth of field - that is how you set your f-stop - use your own judgement. If you want the entire flower in perfect focus stop down (bigger f-stop). If you want more of an impressionistic image you can shoot at a smaller f-stop and get just the stamens in focus.
And let's not forget that the most exciting part of shooting wildflowers, like with all wildlife photography, is locating your prey. There are tons of wildflower species in Toronto, and they grow in fields, marshlands, on hillsides, and even in the woods. You have to go out and find them, and many only bloom briefly at certain times of the year. If you want to ID them you can get a book or scout online, however it's often difficult to ID flowers this way because these sources all seem to have the worst flower pictures possible. Luckily, you don't always need to find an obscure flower species to get a good picture. For example, the Large Bird Foot's Trefoil below is common all over the city, often right beside the road.
If you want some cheering up in cold, dead January, remember that a few wildflowers begin to appear in early April. Just over sixty days away.
