Snowdrops 2

[Kaye Leggett]

A few more. All the same snowdrop just taken with different exposures and processed as the mood took me. I still haven't made the WOW photo, but am relatively happy with these - I shall take some more later and I think engage on a series of flower portraits this year, the rule being I have to pick them from the garden - thank to you all for the 'series' idea.

Any tips on flower portraits and how to improve these very welcome.

I'm also interested to know if you think they work as a collection. It's not easy to display them as such here but I somehow wanted to show them as overlapping and hence created the shadow in the last to continue the shot

[Geoff F]

I'm not sure about that container, Kaye. Somehow the tilted angle just doesn't look right to me. I would prefer a different container/angle or crop this out and just have the stems going out of frame.

The last shot seems well over exposed to me.

Flowers are so difficult to get perfect. Indoor shots take away the problem of wind movement and give you plenty of 'thinking time' but lighting can be a problem.

I have some daylight quality lights which I can place around the subject.

And I often use printed backdrops, either a plain colour or sky/foliage prints on a matte finish paper. Gloss just doesn't look correct.

For holding the stems, I either have a flower pot with soil or simply grip them with clothes pegs, all out of shot. But the right sort of container can be an interesting addition.

Exposure will always be a problem, particularly with white flowers.

One advantage with indoor shots is that it is easier to take two or more shots with different focus points then combine them, providing you have suitable software.

And, of course, all this is done with a tripod.

[Kaye Leggett]

Geoff - thanks for the feedback. A daylight bulb is a good idea - I was in the conservatory yesterday but the light was still dull and I needed extra. I messed around with the backdrop and will continue to do so as well as the vase (or not) - all trial and error !!!

[Mike Buckley]

I agree with Geoff about eliminating the vase. I like the mood of the second one best, both the subject and the background.