When I started my journey in photography, I thought bokeh (pronounced BOH-kay) referred to the beautiful blurred spheres of light present in some outdoor photos. While images with bokeh may have these lovely spheres, bokeh is the soft, out of focus background that is visible in the image. I love this creative style! If you do too, I can show you how to create a beautiful bokeh background in your garden photos.
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The highlight of my summer garden has not been the produce, but the pollinators and pests that have had a party in my backyard! I have two Milkweed plants that have been deemed party central. Some visitors are welcome friends, others not so much. But I still find myself constantly amazed at the variety of garden life that abounds right outside my back door. This post will give you a snapshot of the wildlife I was able to capture and a brief bit about their role in my garden.
Framing, or creating a frame within a frame, is a simple composition tool you can use to make your garden photos really stand out. And that’s what you want, right? Think of an actual picture frame. The sides of the frame surround an image to give it definition and draw in the viewer’s eye. You can use trees, leaves, flowers, people, fences, archways, windows, doors or almost any other natural or architectural element to frame the subject in your image and draw attention to it.
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I hope you haven’t been shying away from learning about shutter speed, because it is by far the easiest concept to grasp in the three-legged exposure triangle. Shutter speed affects exposure and subject motion. Aperture and ISO are the primary settings I adjust to control exposure. I only tweak shutter speed when I want to control subject motion. So in my mind the gist of shutter speed is really as simple as knowing whether you want to stop motion in your images, or if you want to blur motion. That’s it! Seriously.
Thanks so much for your positive feedback on the first post in my Brave Manual Mode series! I’m happy to see so many of you creating images with your subject in focus, just the way you want it. Let’s build on your momentum by adding another element of the exposure triangle to your photography toolshed – ISO.
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When you’re new to garden photography, there’s nothing you want more than to capture stunning images. Applying a few simple composition basics can help you do just that! As gardeners, we mainly shoot in natural settings without access to backdrops, lighting gear, umbrellas and other props common in many photography genres. No problem! Learn how to use what is already in your scene to compose a great shot. If there are rocks, fences, a row of trees or a path near your subject, use it to spice up your photo. Here’s how…..
[Read more…] about SHOOT: how to use leading lines for better garden photos
