Flowers, Pretty Flowers: Ron Wybranowski September 15, 2011

Flowers, Pretty Flowers
Ron Wybranowski
September 15, 2011

 Tonight’s Objectives
 Share some ideas
 Show some techniques
 Inspire and encourage

 Why Photographing Flowers is Important

(particularly at home)
 Create beautiful Images

 Learn how your camera works
 Learn how Photoshop works
 Limited equipment requirements
 Convenient & low-cost
 Quiet & peaceful
 Photographing Flowers
(particularly at home)
 Controlled lighting
 Controlled environment – no wind
 Easy to experiment
 Fast turnaround
 Easy to find flowers at Stop & Shop
Level Playing Field for Competitions
Everyone is equal
Cultivated flowers are Not “Nature”
– So anything goes!
No travel requirements
No exotic animals
No foreign locations
No need for a f4 600mm lens
Photographing flowers at home prepares you

for photographing flowers in the field
"Remember: If you can’t make good

photographs close to home, then you won’t
make good ones at a more exotic location
either."
Joe LeFevre
“Art is the only way

to run away
without leaving home.”
Twyla Tharp
 Tonight’s Program
 Equipment
 Places to Photograph
 Photographing Flowers – Making the Image!
 Developing the Negative
 Flowers, Pretty Flowers –
with help from a few of our friends
Flowers, Pretty Flowers –
with help from a few of our friends
Richard Ferland
Armand & Joan Francoeur
Gary & Judy Hoyt
Dick Morton
Sarah Musumeci
Bob Ring
Sandy Thomas
“Every day strive to be a better photographer

a better visual storyteller, and everything
you learn, share it openly with others.”
“Don’t prove yourself; improve yourself….

and then share it.”
Dewitt Jones
Outdoor Photographer Magazine
April, 2011 Issue
 Required Equipment
 Almost any Camera will do

Nikon D7000 & Nikon 18-200 ¼ sec. @ f11 Nikon Coolpix S57o – 1/50 sec @ f5.4
 Required Equipment
 Almost any Camera will do

 Macro Lens 2.8 105 or 150 Macro is most
common (and probably the best!)
 Any good kit lens
 Camera’s Live View
 Mirror Lock Up or Exposure Delay Mode (Nikon)
 Cable Release (or use timer)
 Tripod
 Required Equipment – If outside
 Knee pads
 Plastic sheet for lying in the mud
 Reflector to provide shade & protect against wind
 Shower Cap for camera in case of rain
 Water spritzer in case of no rain
 Ties or clothespins to hold back unwanted foliage
 Small clippers or scissors for selective pruning
 Optional Equipment
 Extension Tubes
Kenko Auto Extension Tube Set DG (12, 20 & 36mm Tubes) - $168
 Flash or Fixed Lights
Utility Light and 5000k Bulb from Lowe’s - $15

 Close Focus Filters
Tiffen 52mm Close-up Lens Set (+1, +2, +4) $32

Optional Equipment - Light Box
Ron Wybranowski – 30” Light Box – Bob Ring – Small Setup

$45 at Amazon Flotone Gradated Background 31” X43”
$35 @ B&H or Calumet
Optional Equipment - Light Box
Ron’s Minimalist Set-up - $12 at Jo-Ann Frabrics

Black Velvet Draped over TV – Natural Light
 Optional Equipment - Scanner



 Places to Photograph – Local
 Home garden
 Stevens-Coolidge Place – N. Andover, MA
 The Bridge of Flowers – Shelburne Falls, MA
 Sugar Hill – Sugar Hill, NH
 Prescott Park – Portsmouth, NH
 The Andover Flower Farm – N. Andover, MA
 (Ask Permission First)
 Garden in the Woods – Framingham, MA
 Tower Hill Botanical Garden – Boylston, MA
 Places to Photograph – Local
 The Rhode Island Spring Flower and Garden Show

 http://www.flowershow.com/
 Rhode Island Nature Trails
 http://www.visitrhodeisland.com/what-to-do/nature-trails/garden-nature-trail/
 Rotch-Jones-Duff (RJD) House and Garden Museum – New Bedford
 http://www.rjdmuseum.org/
 Blithewold Mansion, Gardens and Arboretum
 http://www.blithewold.org/
 I Love Gardens
 http://www.ilovegardens.com/Rhode%20Island%20Gardens.htm
 Places to Photograph
If you can travel!
 Great Smoky National Park – April through September

 Wildflower Pilgrimage – April 25-29, 2012
 http://www.springwildflowerpilgrimage.org/
 Colorado - July
 Ouray - Yankee Boy & American Basins
 Crested Butte – July 9-15, 2012
 http://www.crestedbuttewildflowerfestival.com/
 Rocky Mountain National Park
 Top Wildflower Destinations

 http://www.rvparks.com/rv-trip-ideas/51-trips/71-top-widlflower-destinations
 Resources
Tony Sweet
 http://www.tonysweet.com/index.html
 Fine Art Flower Photography
Andre Gallant
 http://www.andregallant.com/index.html
Freeman Patterson
 http://www.freemanpatterson.com/index.htm
 Photo Impressionism And the Subjective Image
John Shaw
 http://www.johnshawphoto.com/Index.html
 Focus on Nature
 Resources – Great Images

 Martin Gommel
 http://www.digital-photography-school.com/41-delicious-flower-photographs
 50 Beautiful examples of flower photography

 http://www.noupe.com/photography/50-beautiful-examples-of-flower-photography.html
 Virginia Saunders
 http://www.florigraphy.com/prints/v/botanicals/?g2_enterAlbum=1
 Designzzz
 http://www.designzzz.com/most-beautiful-flowers-photography/
 Photo.Net Editors’ Picks Flower Photography

 http://photo.net/editors-picks/2010/flower-photography/
 Composition Rules
 Rule of Thirds
 Balancing elements – Odd numbers are best
 Color
 Background
 Depth of field
 Leading lines
 Symmetry & patterns
 Viewpoint
 Framing
 Cropping
 Experimentation – a newer idea because of digital
And remember, rules are meant to be broken

 Bob Ring
Simplicity
Juxtaposition
Depth of field
Shadows show form
Repeating pattern
Dramatic colors
Soft background
 Photographing Flowers – Bob Ring

 Rule of thirds
 Separation
 Simplicity
 Creative crop
 Photographing Flowers – Sarah Musumeci
 Creative making of an image

 Very different view
 Perfect exposure
 Symmetrical
 Horizontal pattern
 Great lighting
 This is Fine Art!
There are actually only

three lilies photographed
4-5 times from different
angles and then combined
In Photoshop….
Remember Anything goes!

“If the goal of photography was

to make objectively accurate
reproductions of the real thing,
I wouldn’t bother”
G. Dan Mitchell
http://www.gdanmitchell.com/
 Odd numbers really are best
There’s one thing in the middle

to give it balance.
Two are like opposing forces in

a tug of war!
Odd numbers really are best!

Indoors
 White background for hi-key
 Black background to make colors pop
 Gray background to help with selection

 Use f4.0 – f22 to put key elements in focus

usually f8 -> f16
 Focus on leading edge
 Put key elements on same plane
 Work the scene…. really work it!

Outdoors
 The sun is not always your friend!
 Mottled look is not good – Use reflectors to shade/filter
 Use reflectors to block the wind
 Tie back intrusions
 Clean up background outdoors
 Use tree leaves to fill in the background

 Photographing Flowers – Black & White

Sarah Musumeci
 Photographing Flowers – Black & White
Ron Wybranowski
Ron Wybranowski
Ron Wybranowski
Ron Wybranowski
“The negative is comparable to the

composer's score and the print to its
performance. Each performance differs
in subtle ways. “
Ansel Adams
“Photography is more than a medium for

factual communication of ideas. It is a
creative art.”
Ansel Adams
 Lens Corrections Profile if using Lightroom

 Camera Profile if using Lightroom
 Crop
 Exposure/recovery/fill light/blacks
 Brightness/contrast
 Clarity/vibrance/saturation
 Tone Curve
 Sharpen
 Noise Reduction

Adding a soft out-of-focus background
 Make selection
 Create a background layer
 Apply Gaussian blur
 Erase selection from blurred layer
 Fine tune edges
 Also - See Matt Kloskowski tutorial
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmN5cHBfOLw&feature=related
 Developing the Image

Richard Ferland’s Graduated Background Template
 Open template and save with new name

 Open image and make selection
 Copy and paste selection to renamed template
 Copy and paste additional background if wanted
 Select gradient to use
 Apply color to gradient to make image elements
“Experience is the name

everyone gives to their
mistakes.”
Oscar Wilde
Flowers, Pretty Flowers –
from a few of our friends

Flowers, Pretty Flowers: Ron Wybranowski September 15, 2011

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Flowers, Pretty Flowers: Ron Wybranowski September 15, 2011

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Flowers, Pretty Flowers

September 15, 2011

 Share some ideas

 Show some techniques

 Inspire and encourage

 Why Photographing Flowers is Important

 Create beautiful Images

Photographing flowers at home prepares you

"Remember: If you can’t make good

“Art is the only way

“Every day strive to be a better photographer

“Don’t prove yourself; improve yourself….

 Almost any Camera will do

 Almost any Camera will do

 Required Equipment – If outside

Utility Light and 5000k Bulb from Lowe’s - $15

Tiffen 52mm Close-up Lens Set (+1, +2, +4) $32

Ron Wybranowski – 30” Light Box – Bob Ring – Small Setup

Ron’s Minimalist Set-up - $12 at Jo-Ann Frabrics

 Optional Equipment - Scanner

 Optional Equipment - Scanner

 Optional Equipment - Scanner

 Places to Photograph – Local

 Places to Photograph – Local

 The Rhode Island Spring Flower and Garden Show

 Great Smoky National Park – April through September

 Top Wildflower Destinations

 Resources – Great Images

 50 Beautiful examples of flower photography

 Photo.Net Editors’ Picks Flower Photography

And remember, rules are meant to be broken

 Photographing Flowers – Bob Ring

 Creative making of an image

 This is Fine Art!

There are actually only

Remember Anything goes!

“If the goal of photography was

There’s one thing in the middle

Two are like opposing forces in

Odd numbers really are best!

 White background for hi-key

 Black background to make colors pop

 Gray background to help with selection

 Use f4.0 – f22 to put key elements in focus

 Focus on leading edge

 Put key elements on same plane

 Work the scene…. really work it!

 The sun is not always your friend!

 Mottled look is not good – Use reflectors to shade/filter

 Use reflectors to block the wind

 Tie back intrusions

 Clean up background outdoors

 Use tree leaves to fill in the background

 Photographing Flowers – Black & White

 Photographing Flowers – Black & White

 Developing the Negative

“The negative is comparable to the

 Developing the Negative

“Photography is more than a medium for

 Developing the Negative

 Lens Corrections Profile if using Lightroom

 Developing the Negative

 Developing the Image