Photographing Flowers

Flowers are among the most popular, plentiful and readily accessible of all nature subjects. Yet too many pictures of them turn out trite and disappointing. The fault is not that of the flower, nor entirely that of the photographer. It comes from inherent differences be­tween the way an object appears to the viewer and the way the camera records its image. The photographer sees a flower with stereoscopic, or three-di­mensional, vision that separates it from its surroundings, while the mind's eye compensates for such things as motion and subtle changes in color and light­ing. The camera, by contrast, has mo­nocular, or two-dimensional, vision and tends to place equal emphasis on ev­erything in its one-eyed field of view. Thus a rose that stands out clearly when a photographer looks at it will be lost amidst the other flowers and near­by objects if he takes a picture of it from a normal viewing distance.

The solution to this problem is to re­gard flowers, almost without exception, as subjects for close-up photography. With close-up techniques a single blos­som or a cluster of blossoms can be emphasized so that the background ei­ther does not show or is reduced to an undistracting blur. The contrast of col­ors further separates the flower from the background or in extreme close-ups enhances the view of its structure.

The shallow depth of field when working up close is the very characteristic that per­mits a sharp separation of a flower from its surroundings. And in extreme close-ups, it can be used to concentrate attention on a sin­gle part of a flower.

When lenses are extended in close-up photography, less light falls on the film. Longer exposures are required. The photographer should realize that lighting is an esthet­ic as well as a technical consideration. Broad sunlight is not always necessary or desirable, for natural-looking pic­tures can be taken in shadows and hazy weather, and even when the sun is nearly gone from the sky.

Perhaps the toughest challenge that flowers present is the least expected one: that of motion. Flowers are not the docile subjects they seem, but sway and twitch and flutter incessantly, often for no perceptible reason. The slightest movement, moreover, is exaggerated by the magnifying effect of close-up equipment. The best motion stopper is a fast shutter speed. If a low light level does not permit the use of a fast shut­ter, the photographer must find a way to keep the flower from moving. He can erect a windbreak (any handy material will do as long as it does not reflect its own color on the flower). Or he can tie long-stemmed flowers to a stake, care­fully placed so as not to show in the pic­ture. If all else fails, he can move the flower bodily to a sheltered place, in which case it is wise to dig it up, and re­plant it after the picture has been taken.