I gotta mention – below is what works for me.\u00a0 I encourage you to try, experiment, learn, and just play around to see what works best for you! I would love to also hear about your photo experiences too. I have to also tell you that I am NOT a professional photographer.\u00a0 Just a dude who likes to take a lot of pictures.<\/p>\n
THE GEAR:<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the things I really love about photography with these camera’s is being able to control the depth of field, or “DOF”.\u00a0 This is that “background blurred out” effect you see .\u00a0 For example, in the photo above of my lens, you see how the focus is on the adapter itself and how the rest of the photo is kind of blurred out?\u00a0 That’s an example of a somewhat shallow depth of field.\u00a0 You can control this by adjusting your f-stop on the camera. This is the number\u00a0 you see next to the “f”.\u00a0 Above photo was shot at f 4.\u00a0 The lower the number, the shallower the depth of field.\u00a0 The larger the number, the more foreground to background you can see.\u00a0 For something more comprehensive that won’t bore you like I probably am doing,\u00a0 here’s a pretty straightforward video<\/a>.<\/p>\n ON TO THE SET!<\/strong><\/p>\n Some folks have asked about the black background in the photos. So, what do I use?\u00a0 I use various things actually that are solid black – one of which, is just poster board that I painted with black chalkboard paint The chalkboard paint was leftover from a co-workers building project. He asked if I wanted it and I figured out a good use for it!<\/p>\n Oh, you see white piece of paper in the shot? That’s actually my reflector!\u00a0 With some shots, I’ll hold the paper just outside the shot to reflect the light back onto the subject. It brightens it up a bit.<\/p>\n The time of day is important too.\u00a0 Shooting when lighting is even is best. Morning, dusk, or cloudy days are great times to photograph because you won’t get that strong lighting and strong contrasting shadows.\u00a0\u00a0 A lot of times, I’ll take my photos during these periods.<\/p>\n Another thing I wanted to point out in my photo above is that this was mid day with the sun high.\u00a0 This gave me some issues, but I’m still able to work around it.\u00a0 When the lighting is even, I don’t have a problem with the background. When the lighting is strong, I have to angle the board away from the sun so that the black side is shaded. Otherwise if it’s facing the sun, or has excess light reflecting on it, I’ll have a grayish cast in the background.\u00a0 I’ll still throw a few photos up this way, but I always feel lazy when I do. Ha!\u00a0 Notice in the photo that I’ve angled the board away from the sun and just left it propped up so that the black side is shaded.<\/p>\n Next, I take the camera, and move in on the subject and frame the shot.\u00a0 I composed both of the shots of this plant below with the main focus in the upper third of the frame.\u00a0 Photo composure adds some visual interest to the photos.\u00a0 For example, you can read about it here<\/a>.\u00a0 In the photos below,\u00a0 I AM holding the paper outside the shot underneath the flower and pitcher to brighten it up a bit.\u00a0 The photo below of the pitcher has a really bright hood just because it was shot mid day and the noon sun was blazing on it. I would of liked to shoot it in more even lighting, but I guess for illustrative purposes, the photos will do. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n THE SHOTS:<\/strong><\/p>\n I hope you all liked this little look behind the scenes – now get out there, grow something, and shoot it!<\/strong><\/p>\n Derek, thanks again for your kind encouragement and prodding to post this process!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" So, I’ve had a few people ask me about how I photograph plants. My response is pretty simple. I just press the button. \ud83d\ude42 HA! Recently, fellow garden-plant-homie-dude Derek, who is the author of the wonderful plant blog Plantgasm (twitter: … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5304\/5587365081_f8c568f761.jpg\")
\nSo, when I shoot, I use digital SLR (SLR = Single Lens Reflex) cameras, or DSLR’s for short.\u00a0 I favor shooting with these types of camera because of the control and flexibility they provide for photography. I won’t bore you about all the details here, but you can always check out the wiki<\/a> and the google<\/a> and read up about DLSR’s for yourself.\u00a0 I started out while back just using point and shoots.\u00a0 On the left is my very first DSLR camera that I still do use from time to time. It’s a Canon XTi that I’ve had for a few years.\u00a0 On the right is a Canon 7d.\u00a0 Now: bear in mind it’s not the camera or brand that makes the shot. It’s really about who’s behind that view finder, capturing a vision, then conveying it in the\u00a0 photo.\u00a0 There’s always going to be debate on which brand is best, or which gear is best.\u00a0 To me, it’s not about that but rather what the final product is. Some people think the more expensive the camera, the better the photo. Well, it’s not all about the “bling” factor of your gear.\u00a0 Just use what you have! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5189\/5587953730_c858a06f76.jpg\")
\nThose rings above – are actually little macro lens adapters.\u00a0 This allows me to get closer to my subject.\u00a0 It’s a rather inexpensive way to get a nice close up photo without spending so much on a macro lens. It comes in varying powers that attach to your lens.\u00a0 The higher the number, the closer you can get to your subject. You can combine them too.\u00a0 Now, if you decide to go this route, make sure that the diameter of your lens matches up with the adapters.\u00a0 For example, this is my 50 mm lens that I use a lot, and the diameter is 52mm.\u00a0 Often times it’s reflected as the “\u00d8” symbol.\u00a0\u00a0 Depending how close I want to get, I’ll change it up from not using an adapter at all, to combining all of them.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5067\/5587360107_5c450b1d2e.jpg\")
\nHere’s a photo of the nifty 50mm with the +2 adapter on.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5255\/5587949894_b5305d31f5_z.jpg\")
\nI try to use something that has a matte type finish so that it minimizes the light reflection.\u00a0\u00a0 I’ve used things such as the black back of clipboard, to the flat black luggage inserts.\u00a0 The board in the above photo needs some retouching though. I’ll probably repaint it this weekend or something.\u00a0 Others I know use things like… black velvet, black cloth, landscape fabric… Hey, whatever works!<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5095\/5587355137_e719eaf62b_z.jpg\")
\nSarracenia hybrid<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5023\/5587948508_abb9c20cd0_z.jpg\")
\nSarracenia hybrid<\/p>\n