Glorious
Photography by Peggy Jones Pfister
Photography by Peggy Jones Pfister
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Apr, 2015Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This Gerbera daisy, purchased from a florist, was in a vase on the island in my kitchen. It was a day in August, and where I live, the summer is very hot and humid, so indoor shooting is much more comfortable than outdoor shooting at that time of year.Time
This image was from a relaxing mid-morning photo shoot, with no particular agenda other than to capture the beauty of this flower.Lighting
My kitchen has large windows, and is filled with natural light. The island where I had placed the flower is a few feet away from a window, so the light was diffuse side light, soft and even.Equipment
I used a Canon Rebel T2i, and a Canon 100mm f/2.8 USM macro lens. The Gerbera daisy is a fairly flat structure, so by placing the camera sensor parallel to the flower surface, using an aperture of f/13, and focusing carefully, I was able to get sharpness throughout the image. I used ISO 200, and no flash. Given the aperture and ISO, the exposure time was 1.6 seconds, so a tripod was a necessity.Inspiration
I very much enjoy shooting nature’s beauty in the form of plants and flowers. I especially enjoy close up and macro shots that yield an intimate view of the subject, or, as in the case of this image, just a portion of the subject. For this composition, I chose a portion of the flower that included a bit of the center and a semicircle of delicate ruffled petals on the left side of the frame, with the longer petals radiating out from them on the right side of the frame. The flower's overall loveliness and the beautiful vibrant color throughout inspired the name of the image, “Glorious”.Editing
I concentrated on getting the best “out of the camera” image I could get, so I did only basic post-processing, with a very light hand. My edits included some light detail enhancement, a wee bit of vibrance/saturation adjustment, and a gentle bump in brightness. The image was framed just the way I wanted it, so I did no cropping at all.In my camera bag
I currently have one camera body, a Canon 70D. (I no longer have the Canon T2i that I used for this image.) My lenses are the Canon 18 - 55mm "kit" lens, a Canon 100mm f/2.8 USM macro lens, a Canon 70 - 300mm f/4 - 5.6 USM lens, and a Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM lens. I also carry a polarizing filter, neutral density filter, and remote shutter release.Feedback
Generally, my advice for any photographer is to shoot as much as possible, and never stop learning. Shoot what you love and don’t be afraid to experiment. Specifically for close up and macro photography, proper focusing is key, whether your goal is overall sharpness throughout the image, or selective focus on one part of the image. Macro photography inherently involves razor-thin depth of field, so I always focus macro shots manually, and I find it quite helpful to focus in live view, with magnification, to ensure sharp and well-placed focus. To avoid camera vibration (and therefore less-than-tack-sharp focus), a tripod is a must. I also use a remote shutter release, along with shutter delay.
