Photographing wildflowers

Australian wildflowers have a strong appeal to the senses - some are voluptuous in shape and form, some fragile; some have a scent that is almost overpowering, but in others the perfume is delicate; some are bold and brightly coloured, but others are pale and shy. They are among my favourite subjects for photographing with both still and video cameras.

There is little that gives me more joy than wandering alone, camera in hand, over a desert dune or through the heath during an excellent wildflower season. I like to be as unencumbered as possible so that I can drop to my knees or lie on my belly to marvel at the structure, colour and texture of the object of my inspiration.

A motor drive allows me to keep one hand free, maybe to hold grasses back from my focus point, or, especially in low light, to brace the camera for a slow shutter speed. I often use a tripod for stability, particularly when the light is low and I want to balance the artificial light with the natural light. The tripod also helps with careful focus and detailed composition.

While unplanned encounters are great, it is best if you do some planning and time your visits to coincide with the flowering seasons. Western Australia's south-west in springtime is the most spectacular area for wildflowers. Contact the local parks and conservation authorities for information regarding the timing of your visit.

Macro with a long lens - I cannot sufficiently emphasise the tremendous advantage of using a long lens [200 mm plus] as opposed to a shorter focal-length lens [55-100 mm].Working with a 200 mm lens at a distance from the subject has many benefits. It is physically easier than bending or lying down for every shot when the lens requires closeness if the frame is to be filled. Another advantage is that smaller plants can be recorded with comparative ease, including flowers of a size that could be ignored with a wider lens like a 50 mm. The depth of field is shorter, which means backgrounds can be controlled more easily. If there are birds and insects about, they are far more easily photographed with a 200 mm than with a standard macro lens.

The two primary sources here are daylight and the light from a flash. Both have identical colour temperatures and so work well together or separately. There will be numerous occasions when natural light is poor and flash can be used. The Scarlet Banksia on the left side of this image was taken in natural light, and the one on the right is a combination of natural light and fill-in flash [135/200 mm micro, f11, 1/125 sec.].

Making wildflower images with aesthetic appeal needs skilled management of backgrounds through selective focus and depth of field control. Complimentary backgrounds that are soft and without distracting detail, place emphasis on the flower itself. This hemiandra is an excellent example. In addition to selective focus and depth of field management, changing the angle of view can add to the impact of the image - [135/200 mm micro, f4, fill-in flash, tripod mounted, 1/10 sec., shot in very low light].

Both these images of Fuchsia Heath were taken of the same plant with the same lens. The variation is due to a change in angle of view. The image on the left was taken looking towards the sky and the one on the right looking down towards a background of shrubs. Both backgrounds are soft and out of focus because I used a 200 mm lens and opened it to f4, limiting the depth of field and focusing totally on the flowers. To manage this process, especially if the techniques are new to you, mount your camera on a tripod, then take your time, maybe bracketing exposures and changing the depth of field by adjusting the aperture and shutter speed. The flowers were in heavy shade and appeared back-lit against the brighter background, so I used fill-in flash for both to avoid recording silhouettes [135/200 mm macro, f4, 1/15 sec.].

A sense of place - Close-up wildflower images are lovely to collect, but don't ignore the other possibilities for different kinds of flower images. Medium close-up shows the whole plant; if it is a shrub you could show the species in its environment. The same sorts of compositional and background issues will exist, more so than with close-ups; the foreground will also become an issue. Because you are now working close to what could be a plant with considerable depth you might choose a wide-angle lens: something around 20 mm to 35 mm would be appropriate. The shot was taken in central Western Australia during the biggest wildflower bloom in the memory of the locals. I counted 160 species of flower on one dune face alone!

Cranbrook Bells [135/200 mm, f5.6, 1/125 sec., fill in flash].