Just Beyond The Window

Forget the lawnmower and pruners, any serious tog should be tooling up with their cameras and macro lenses when venturing into their back gardens.

 It's a time to celebrate the return of vibrant colour to the world.

But keep in mind that flowers may look just as interesting when lit from the side or behind, than by full frontal light (sun or flash).

Maybe you want to concentrate on form, shape and pattern - black and white is perfect for this, as colour is a significant distraction in most images.

The foliage here (above and below) acts as a natural 'gobo'; that is, it partially blocks the light creating a delicate pattern of shadowing across the petals.

Partial desaturation can create a moodier look for your floral photography. Colour is hinted at, but doesn't dominate the image. A simple slide to the left on the saturation slider in Photoshop achieves this.

Getting in real close with a macro lens on your SLR (or lenses on compacts and bridging cameras) can offer a dramatically different perspective on a subject. A tripod (or other support) will be necessary to avoid motion blur caused by camera shake or even the gentlest breeze. Movement is more noticeable the closer you get to your subject.

Open up that aperture for a truly abstract view of the world.

Finally, a confression. None of these images were shot in my garden - or even outside. The subject was a vase of flowers on my kitchen window sill. Crop and angle hides many sins!

Peruvian Squill

A Peruvian Squill has appeared in our garden this year. No idea how it got there, as it is apparently native of The Algarve. Migratory avians passing above our garden? I hope not, for the bird's sake as the squill grows from a bulb.
To separate the delicate flowering portion of the plant from the busy garden background I shot with a macro lens set to apertures between f8 and f2.8, depending on how much of the plant I wanted to keep in focus.
I resisted the temptation to polarise the shine off the petals as I wanted to highlight the contrast between the light open and darker closed flowers.
A tripod was essential as even the slightest bit of camera shake blurs macro images. I also shot a greycard and balanced in Photoshop, rather than relying on the Nikon's built-in white balance settings, as purples can be awkward to get right.
A small water spritzer added a dewy look to some of the shots.