Fercliff Illusion Dahlia
Sep, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This was taken in my front yard on a Saturday in the fall under a very large and old tree that covers a decent section of my front yard. I tried to pick a spot in the yard that was more on the fuller grassier side so that any of the background that was used or seen was just green grass and it would compliment the flower and the slight yellowish green tint that it naturally had at the base of the petals.Time
This was taken in the early afternoon/mid day when the sun is over head high to give some good shade under some trees. I believe this was taken in late September/early October (because that's when these types of flowers really start to bloom around here).Lighting
I always try to use as much natural light as I possibly can so I always aim for shooting outdoors and working with plants is a great way to do so. I had more control over the set up and used the shade from sitting under a tree so that it wasn't too much direct light coming from the sun.Equipment
The equipment that I used for this particular shot was my camera, the tree from over head, and a flower vase since this was from a bouquet already cut. I also used my feet to help steady the vase on the ground and support if I tilted the vase to get the right angle. It was much easier to adjust the vase and use my feet for support than it was to constantly move my self to get the angles that I wanted.Inspiration
What inspired me for this shot was a few things. The first was that this flower was bought as a part of a bouquet at a farmer's market that was intended to be used in a different photo session that ended up being canceled that morning after the flowers were already purchased. I had gone home and decided that I wasn't going to waste the money and time spent intending to use the flowers in photos so I thought I would be a good idea to work on the macro techniques. The second inspiration was that this was one of my favorite flowers in the bouquet that I had purchased and had I used them for the original intent I would have gone back for another one to use to take the opportunity to get some good shots off.Editing
For the post-processing on this I tried to keep it as simple as possible because I loved the natural look of it already. I used camera raw to make minor adjustments so that the light wasn't too bright, the dark wasn't too dark and the white balance was a little more natural looking instead of too much warm or cool toned. Then once in photoshop I brightened the image and adjusted the saturation and vibrance to the image to make the colors a little stronger but not too overbearing. Once I found the balance of the image that I liked that still kept it simple and the image close to natural, I sharpened it just enough to make the lines and edges clearer.In my camera bag
In my equipment bag on a regular basis I have my camera with three different size lenses: the standard 18-55mm, 55-250mm and the 75-300mm. I make sure to have at least one cleaning cloth/lens cleaner and a few filters although I really rarely ever use them. My battery charger always stays in my bag unless it is plugged into the wall because you never know when you'll need to charge your battery and sometimes those things get misplaced (yes I have misplaced mine before which is why it is now in my camera bag at all times). I also keep things for all general session occasions: hand sanitizer, chapstick (with an spf), sunscreen (because if I don't apply it before I leave the house it's there), and mints or hard candies which are good to keep for blood sugar levels or bad breath (LOL). It's also good to keep travel size aspirin incase of a headache or anything as well as bandaids or a simple first aid kit if it's easy enough to fit in your bag. Sometimes depending on the day I will throw in some light snacks like trail mix or granola bars or something that's healthy and easily cleaned up if I know it's going to be a longer session. I always throw in a bottle of water every new day that I grab my bag to do a session if it's away from the house to stay hydrated.Feedback
There are all different types of flowers out there and several of them, like this dahlia, have a variety of color variations. Even if you're using the same types of flowers over and over again, or the same concept, I say you can never practice too much on taking macro shots on flowers. Sometimes you can recreate how a particular shot was taken and sometimes the attempt turns out something different. To try and capture something like this is pretty simple because you can take a flower of any kind and put it in a vase of water and move it to the ideal location for the right lighting and the right angle with the right type of background. You can also dig a small hole in the ground just big enough for the stem of the flower to hold it up, which I have done before as well. It's all in the angle and the approach to get what pleases the eye!
