الزهـور .. الطبيعة .. كيف تلتقط أجمل الصور .. كتاب التصوير الضوئي

Flowers .. Nature .. How to take the most beautiful pictures .. Photography book

Nature

Flowers

The capabilities of the camera make you lose yourself in front of the images that come to you when you photograph flowers: not only because of the diversity of species themselves, but also because of the ideal way to photograph them. For example, you can choose a three-dimensional surface that shows the familiarity between the flower petals in such a way that one flower is enough to make a complete picture. Documentary photos that interest the naturalist or the florist must give a description of the smallest details. On the other hand, you can seek to achieve a more expressive image that shows the special character of the flower. You can achieve this by working with a large aperture in such a way that only the flower is clear in a completely unclear environment: this environment that forms an ideal background surface since many secondary details distract the eye uselessly from the center of attention.

The best time to photograph flowers is early in the morning when they are dewy, avoid photographing them in the evening or at noon when the heat has lost their luster and vitality.
In addition, strong sunlight creates strong shadows that distort their entire shape. Sunlight cast through light clouds is better.

Wild flowers are more attractive than their natural surroundings, especially if they are abundant. A small patch of land in a country field is enough to see how many different colors cover them. Even in the bright red of the field anemones, we can distinguish yellow and blue colors.

In flower photography there is a problem: the risk of movement, especially when using zoom rings. The swaying of the flower caused by the wind can be reduced by supporting it with an invisible iron wire or by protecting it with a windbreak. The necessary equipment includes a support, a flexible button and a set of zoom rings. The ideal camera in this field is the 24 x 36 reflex.

Natural surroundings:

The wild flowers are very well represented in their natural habitat. It is rare to find such an abundance of multi-species flowers under the temperate climate of Western Europe. The dominant colours are red and green but these beautiful colours are mixed here and there with yellow and blue spots. Lens 250mm at half-distance.
Hasselblad 1/250 sec f/5.6 250 Actachrom EX

Important subject choice:

- Far left: A normal focal length lens with zoom rings creates a large representation of the pistil and stamens of a lavender in its orange petals. Facing the wind I used a plywood board.
Hasselblad 1 sec f/22 Actachrom HS

- Middle top: To take a view of the whole of this lily I used a black background to remove all extraneous elements. A white reflector softens the shadows.
Hasselblad Long Burner and Blower
1/125 sec 22 Actachrom HS

- Top right: I shot this flower just after the rain.
Normal lens with minimum 25cm focal length.
Leicaflex 1/250 sec 8 Actachrom HS

- Middle right: In order to fit a lot of flowers into the image area I used a 150mm wide angle lens with maximum aperture which resulted in this special blur effect.
Hasselblad 1/250 sec 4 Actachrom HS

- Bottom left: I shot this decorative vase through a steamy window which resulted in this soft and romantic image.
Leicaflex 1/250 sec f/8 Actachrom EX

- Bottom right: At 45° at chest height, the orange flowers are isolated from their surroundings
Leica M2
1/250 sec f/8 Kodak Rom 11