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Flower Pictures - A Mild Obsession #2
By Patrick Heathcock, Fri Dec 9th
So a gorgeous yellow daisy mesmerises me, swaying elegantly inthe light afternoon breeze, bathed in the warm light.Mmmm...emotions gently bubble to the surface, excitementforemost, followed by the deep satisfaction that I've been ableto make time to return to this spot to revisit my yellow daisy.I've already shot her once...but...now another chance to createanother feel, another image worthy of my wall. As before I dispense with my tripod. An odd decision? Perhaps...but here's my thinking on the subject. Firstly this is adecision which individual photographers need to make forthemselves and secondly, and please understand this clearly,there are no rights or wrongs when the intent is artisticcreation. A tripod slows the process down (a good thing), it allows forgreater reflection on composition and it creates the freedomnecessary to style the shot without losing the angle of view onehas chosen. It also has the added benefit of helping to steadythe camera considerably so that camera shake is avoided.Actually in practise that bonus can rapidly become nullified -add a little spring zephyr to the mix and suddenly movementbecomes an artistic must have, with or without the tripod!
Easing swiftly on to my preference... Shooting fashion was my world for a number of years and eventhough I used a tripod a lot in the studio, more often than noton location I preferred to hand hold my monster of a mediumformat camera (GX680). Luckily it has an autowind so cranking tothe next frame wasn't a bore, but the freedom to be able toapproach all shots by circling the subject to see how the worldlooked from that perspective was hugely stimulating. Good stuff!And oddly now that I'm shooting my mostly inanimate gorgeousyellow daisy and the like, I feel incredibly fettered when usinga tripod. Don't ever let anyone dictate that there is only oneproper way (ironically almost always their way - strange...).Discipline is in your approach and consistency of approachrather than just the tools. There is another factor in the mix - DIGITAL...A little rantlast time, a repeat now...Freedom! To me digital spells freedom- access, creativity, lack of stress about mundane matters likemoney i.e. cost per frame "wasted". If you like to shoot a lotof each view as I do, this would get prohibitive real quick onfilm. I urge you as a budding or even a relatively experiencedphotographer to shoot lots - life is too short to stuff amushroom (if you get that you get my point), and shoot at thehighest res possible. I cringe at sad sack stories of the onethat got away. Be disciplined, shoot smart. Make yourself a checklist, mentalor written, of things to check and use it every time you go outto shoot. It's the little things...you try explaining to aclient that you forgot the charged batteries at the studio oreven worse, a whispered aside to assistant "Herm where's thefilm?" And then even worse the reply "I thought you packedit...." Checklists rule okay! So to the gorgeous yellow number...Another decision, anotherchoice. Shoot the natural view or create an instant outdoorstudio background with flags, fills and scrim. Me, I like thecontrol of creating my own environment as far as possible. Ilike the deep orange fuzzy card in the background with my modellanguishing, exotically garbed in yellow organza, in theforeground. Daisy perfection! Now for some forward planning...don't ever restrict your abilityto shoot by not planning ahead. Take a few extras with you... I grabbed a series of different colored cards before I left, A4sheets as the work is close and my subjects mostly small, and Icut a slit down the vertical centre
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line to 1/3 into the page,then carved out a small round hole (a keyhole in effect),aperfect fit around the stem of most flowers, without doing anyreal damage. Don't worry about the slit, Photoshop will cleanthat up! For the purists out there sorry if that's cheating inyour book, but hey if you've got it, use it, is my feeling. I also stuck a bit of foil, white card and black card in forgood measure. A tiny mobile studio - flag and fill! Do itproperly if you're going to do it at all. The foil can be wellused to create pattern or glitter on an otherwise dull surface,the white card to fill in the shadow areas and the black card todefine edges on white/light subjects. On really bright, sunnydays it's worth adding a sheet of scrim to the mix to soften thelight over the subject. Diffuse light created by a cloudy day orby a decent piece of scrim is so much easier to work with -color saturation is deep and satisfying without huge loss inshadows or highlights. Be prepared! BUT... Do not rule out the harsh directness of full-on sun. It can beawesome to work in direct sun - huge drama, brilliant glitter.Give yourself a break - luxuriate in choice. Never loose site ofthe point...GET THE SHOT...the shot that's beautiful enough tograce the wall...any wall! See the beauty! Copyright 2005 Patrick Heathcock About the author:Sometime commercial photographer London, fulltime flower artphotographer and web designer living in the southern semisphere,soaking up the sun. Visit http://www.aflowergallery.com to viewthe yellow daisy and more!
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