Further Macro Explorations

Digital original

Working with flowers in a garden is very different from working with cut flowers; in this case, the only way I could get so close to the pansy, and keep it in sharp focus, was to lean the bottom of the flower on a rock…only then was the flower stable enough to get accurate focus on the centre of the bloom.

Digital original

I found this plant really interesting - it was very "flat" - like someone sat on it. I worked hard to get the camera absolutely parallel to it, so the plane of focus would match the plane of the plant, which in turn meant I could work at an even larger aperture than usual (f/2.8). The end result was a beautifully soft background, behind a tack sharp plant!

Digital original

The final images of this garden exploration were made with the camera almost at ground level, looking into plants, and through them. I found working this way really engaging, as composition became crucial to the success of the images.