Digitial Flower Photography by Sue Bishop

I re-read Digital Flower Photography while working through Part 3 of TAOP; not necessarily because I am interested in flowers (I'm not really), but Bishop's approach is actually all about colour and how to make stunning colourful macro images.  Like Angel she generally uses ISO100 and also uses a 105mm macro lens (I have an 85 mm lens so I hope this will work too!).  One thing I have picked up from Angel and Bishop is that you do not necessarily need to use a wide aperture to get the blurred background effect; because of the lens type you can use a mid-range aperture depending on how much detail you want in the picture.

Bishop also discussing light effects, tripods, beanbags, and so on - all tools of the trade required.  She mentions the problem of camera shake, and wind, with macro photography, which I have experienced and not successfully resolved, so a tripod and fast shutter speed are usually required.  One thing Sue does is to take pictures of flowers indoors to resolve the wind issue.  The images I like best are the abstract close-ups of flower details; these images are really all about colour and are a great inspiration for the exercises for TAOP part 3.

Macro Through A Nikon Lens by Heather Angel

I am currently working through Part 3 of TAOP dealing with colour and am thinking about using my macro lens for the exercises and assignment to allow me to focus entirely on colour and texture. The cover of this book alone showing the yellow rimmed eye of a blue macaw is inspiring!

The book is largely image-based, which makes it pleasing to read, which Angel supplements with brief narrative on the technicalities. She deals with lighting and equipment in some detail and I can see the effect this has on the images, but at the moment I simply do not have the kit.

I noted however that she mostly uses a 105mm lens; mine is an 85mm so I hope this won't impair my images. I guess it means that I will have to get closer to bugs than she does! I have already experimented with this lens but have had varying degrees of success particularly with flowers and wind...

What is really inspiring about Angel's images is the range of subjects she finds to photograph - things that a lot of people might not see, for instance water droplets hanging on the under side of a leaf. I also like images showing just the eye of an animal (something I have previously tried with my cat which wasn't a popular choice!), which has got me thinking about going to the zoo.

Macro photography is also great for highlighting texture - I have already seen that fur, wool and feathers are captured in greater detail with my macro lens and Angel also demonstrates this in her images.

Colours into tones in black-and-white

The exercise required shooting a still life arrangement comprised of pure contrasting colours with even lighting and shadow fill (not sure I got the lighting and shadow right...), and then converting the images into monochrome and applying various filters and filter strengths.  Here is the original arrangement:

I then carried out a straight forward conversion into black and white without applying any filters:

Red filter

I processed two images with a red filter using 50% brightness and 75% and 100% filter strength:

Red 75%

As expected, the red pepper is lighter with the red filter applied - it looks as if it would be an orange or yellow pepper and the green chillies and the lemon are darker.

Red 100%

With the filter 100% applied the pepper is even lighter still and then lemon is darker.

Yellow filter

Yellow 75%

The yellow filter had the effect of lightening the lemon, the green chillies and the red pepper, but these are quite subtle changes.  The red pepper is however darker than it is with the red filter applied.

Yellow 100%

With the yellow filter 100% applied, the effect is more noticeable with the card becoming darker, the green chillies much darker, the lemon and the red pepper lighter.  Now you really would image that the red pepper had been a yellow one!

Green filter

Green 75%

The green filter at 75% has an overall lightening effect on the image, and seemed to have more impact on the red pepper than anything else.

Green 100%

The effect of the green filter at 100% seems to be as above a general lightening.  The course work implies that the red pepper should get darker, but its not - it's definitely lighter!  

Cyan_Blue 100%

I then played with the colour slider watching the tones change as it moved through the different filter colours (this is in Nikon Capture) and noticed that the red pepper became dark with the slider set right at the point where cyan meets royal blue.

Blue filter (cyan)

Cyan 75%

I used the light blue (cyan) filter next; I found this image not too dissimilar to the neutral original - perhaps slightly darker.  The lemon is darker.

Cyan 100%

At 100% the cyan had the effect of darkening the lemon and pepper but lightening the green chillies very slightly.

This was a really interesting exercise and showed me something I hadn't thought about before.  Which filter and strength you would use would depend on the subject and context, however I really liked the effect of the yellow filter at 100% - it gives a really strong tonal contrast.  I also liked the strength of colour in the original against the grey card.  That is why I chose the colour scheme that I did for my blog - because colours look incredible against grey!

Colour relationships

The first part of the exercise is to capture images with complimentary colour relationships in the recommended proportions:

• red: green - 1:1
• orange: blue - 1:2
• yellow: violet - 1:3

Red: Green - 1:1

These images were shot at Brooklands Museum in Surrey.  Although they are different shades of red and green they are both successful and clearly show the correct proportions (however I actually don't like this combination of colours).

Orange: Blue - 1:2

Also shot at the Brooklands Museum, I found a variation of orange and blue in this rusting door.  I don't think it is a particularly successful representation of this colour combination, which normally I would find pleasing, but not in this case.  Also the proportion is not close enough - there is not enough orange.

A more vibrant representation of orange and blue, in better 1:2 proportions (although not exact) were found at the Shri Sanatan Hindu Temple in Alperton.  A stunning day provided a cobalt blue sky against the orange sandstone masonry.

Yellow: Violet - 1:3

Very hard to find yellow and violet naturally occuring in the required proportions.  These two shots show the colour contrast but not really in the proportions required.

This macro image of a violet pansy shows the contrast in the required proportions, although it is not a particularly pleasing photo.  The resolution hasn't come out very well - it's lost the velvety texture that pansies have - but it has illustrated the colour point well.

Colour combinations

The second part of the exercise asked for colour combinations that appeal and in particularly images that demonstrate colour imbalances that are more interesting than equilibrium.

Shades of blue spotted along behind the Thames Path heading from the Thames Barrier towards Greenwich.  I like the turquoise against the cyan.

If a person wore the combination of green, olive, pink, orange and cobalt, people would think they were eccentric....but in nature this combination is stunning.  This was shot in Cumbria along the pass connecting Buttermere to Keswick.  A polariser was used to enhace the effect.

 Spotted in my neighbour's garden in Keswick; reds, oranges and greys with a hint of green. Very striking!

 Rockface by the Bowderstone Quarry in Borrowdale, Cumbria.  Pastel shades of mint, mauve, pink and grey (enhanced slightly in processing).

Striking - white against a cobalt blue sky.  This was taken early morning in London during the Olympics.

Cyan, green and orange; also shot early morning in London during the Olympics.

Variation on a theme: yellow, cyan and green; again shot early morning during the olympics.

Red and cyan; final early morning colour shooting walking through London during the Olympics.

This is a reproduction of an image a friend of mine shot http://jointheaascrapbook.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/flying-colours-c-sue-buller.html
I think her shot was more successful, but you get the picture: blue, yellow and orange.

Muted tones: shades of neutral grey, taupe and white on these beautiful cygnets preening themselves on Derwentwater.

Red and turquoise: much more pleasing than red and green!  This was shot at Brooklands Museum in Surrey; these colours remind me of America and Native American culture.

The same pleasing red and turquoise, but muted by a neutral grey and white.  Also shot at Brooklands in Surrey.

Primary and secondary colours

The exercise required the shooting of three photographs for each of the six colours of the standard colour wheel: green, yellow, orange, red, violet and blue.  One exposure was as the meter reading indicated (the higher middle image), and then one half a stop brigher (to the left) and the other half a stop darker (to the right).  I have then marked which image most closely matches the colour in the wheel.

The instructions recommended shooting natural colours, so my first attempts were shot in a garden centre in an attempt to capture nature's colours:

Green

1/180s - f/9.5

1/250s - f/9.5

1/125s - f/9.5

 For these greens, taken of rosemary plants, it is hard to say.  The sun was quite bright, but I think that the darker image (1/250s) is the closest match.

Yellow

1/350s - f/9.5

1/500s - f/9.5

1/250s - f/9.5

 

None of these yellow flowers match the yellow of the colour wheel - they are too light.  The colour wheel yellow is darker - more of an egg yolk colour.

Orange

1/180s - f/9.5

1/250s - f/9.5

1/125s - f/9.5

The image that most closely matches the colour wheel is the darkest image the 1/250s; but this is significantly darker than the one used in the course materials, so a truer match would be the correctly exposed image at 1/180s.

Red

1/90s - f/9.5

1/60s - f/9.5

1/125s - f/9.5

 

The brightest image, 1/60s, most closely matches the colour wheel; the others are too dark. 

Violet

1/90s - f/9/5

1/60s - f/9.5

1/125s - f/9.5

None of these violets are close to the colour wheel; the colour wheel violet is a much darker colour.

Blue

1/350s - f/9.5

1/500s - f/9.5

1/250s - f/9.5

None of these blues are close to the colour wheel; the colour wheel blue is a much darker colour- more of a royal blue - these are more cerulean in colour.  But there are patches on the flowers that are close to a darker blue - these are more prominent in the underexposed shot at 1/500s.

After flowers, I then tried my hand at fruit and veg:

Green

1/125s - f/4.8

1/90s - f/4.8

1/180s - f/4.8

Macro shot of some Asian vegetables, the metered reading of 1/25s is the closest to the green of the colour wheel.

1/250s - f/4.8

1/350s - f/4.8

1/180s - f/4.8

In this case, a macro shot of a different kind of Asian vegetable, the 1/180s is the closest to the green of the colour wheel.

Yellow

1/125s - f/9.5

1/90s - f/9.5

1/180s - f/9.5

Boxes of mangoes, also shot with a macro lens.  In this collection, the shot that is half a stop underexposed is the closest to the yellow on the colour wheel, although still a little darker.  In reality mangoes are more orange than this, they are reflecting bright sunlight.

1/90s - f/4.8

1/60s - f/4.8

1/125s - f/4.8

Lemons, a  more acidic yellow than mangoes.  The underexposed shot at 1/60s is the closest to the colour wheel yellow; the others are too dark, but this is because they were in the shade.

Orange

1/60s - f/4.8

1/90s - f/4.8

1/45s - f/4.8

Also shot in the shade, the underexposed shot at 1/45s is the closest match to the colour wheel.

1/30s - f4.8

1/20s - f/4.8

1/45s - f4.8

Tumeric roots shot in the shade; the metered exposure at 1/30s is the closest to the colour wheel.

Red

1/90s - f/9.5

1/125s - f/9.5

1/60s - f/9.5

Shiny tomatoes ripening in the sun; the metered exposure at 1/90s is the closest red to the colour wheel.

1/180s - f/4.2

1/250s - f/4.2

1/125s - f/4.2

A single raspberry placed on a window sill to ensure maximum light (on a dark day...) shot using a macro lens with the camera set to ISO 800 to ensure maximum colour.   None of the images matches the colour wheel red really closely - these are all too pink.  I think there are patches on the lighter two - the 1/180s and the underexposed 1/125s that qualify - but still too pink really.  The overexposed shot has intensified the pinkness.

Violet

1/125s - f/4.8

1/90s - f/4.8

1/180s - f/4.8

 






These sweet potatoes were more of a pinkish colour in reality, but in the shade and with the darkest exposure, 1/180s, the colour is very close to the violet of the colour wheel - just a touch too red!

1/30s - f/4.8

1/45s - f/4.8

1/20s - f4/8

Shiney baby aubergines, a very dark shade of violet.  The lighter patches on the lightest exposure of 1/20s are just about the violet of the colour wheel, but really the overall colour is too blue to be accurate.

Blue

The only blue fruit and veg I could think of was blueberries.  I know you can get blue potatoes but not in Feltham...These blueberries were shot with a macro lens with the blueberries placed in a bowl on the window sill with the camera set to !SO 800 to try to get as much blueness as possible.

1/90s - f4

1/60s - f/4

1/125s - f4

These results are quite interesting; for a start the blueberries aren't the same blue as the colour wheel - these are more of an indigo colour rather than a royal blue.  What happens in the under exposed image is that the blue becomes blacker and in the underexposed image more washed out.  But the shade of blue doesn't change.