Magnolia campbellii 'Alba'
Magnolia campbellii 'Alba'
Copyright Brian Haslam 2008
Aug, 2014Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I visited Lanhydrock House, a National Trust property near Bodmin in Cornwall, UK, when there was an early spring in 2008, looking for camellias and magnolias to photograph. You have to walk down a hill to approach the house, and from above I could see a huge magnolia tree in full flower, festooned with large white flowers. I took a quick look around the main garden, before working out where my quarry might be. Heading towards it, I found it was tucked away in the semi-private gardeners area, without a soul to disturb me. Most of the flowers were way above my head, but there were many blooms conveniently situated at eye level. Magnolias are very protective of their stamens, and are often frost bitten, but after a mild winter I was lucky. I held down the front petal with one hand to show the sea anemone like centre parts, and positioned the camera so the pistil would be inbetween the two petals behind it.Time
It was a cloudy but fairly bright day which always gives the best results for a soft and natural look. Sunlight is too harsh and gives black shadows. It was probably around midday.Lighting
The petals being white gave me a good depth of field, and fill in flash reduced shadows. Using flash however, meant the background was black, and did not do justice to the flower or a good photo. My first attempt to improve the picture was to crop the photo to a square, and paint the black background areas with an off-white taken from one of the petals. This gave a good high key result.Equipment
Canon 5D with 28-105 zoom lens, shot at 105mm with macro focus, and fill-in flash from a Metz flashgun.Inspiration
It was the best looking magnolia tree in the gardens, with the best blooms.Editing
Nearly a year after my first result with a square crop, I went back to the full frame original photo and painted the whole background to blend in with the petals, a subtle off-white shade to show off the whites of the petals, and to blend in. There must be a hint of pink from the stamens reflecting in the whites. A clean background is sometimes helpful to reduce distracting elements and help focus on the main subject.In my camera bag
The photo was taken nearly seven years ago, when I used a Canon 5D with 28-105 zoom lens, and a Metz flashgun. Today I use a Canon 5D Mkll with a 100mm macro lens.Feedback
I have spent nearly seven years trying to take another photo as good as this, and have not succeeded, so it is not easy. All I can say is keep trying, perseverance works, and patience helps too.
