Digital Camera World » plant photography

Pictures of ferns: master your plant photography skills with this one subject

jmeyer — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 14:00:17 +0000

You don’t have to be a botanist to enjoy pictures of ferns. The ancient plants are strikingly beautiful and a wonder to photograph.

From Anna Atkins’ beautiful 19th-century photograms and Karl Blossfeldt’s botanical studies, to contemporary digital pictures of ferns by modern shooters, many amateur up through famous photographers have been seduced by the alluring magnificence of ferns.

The beautiful spirals and patterns of a newly unfolding fern can also be found in other areas of the natural world, such as the spiral of a nautilus shell.

These spiral patterns are also reflected in the golden mean – and these in turn are referenced in the basic principles of photo composition that we all use in our everyday photography.

Good fern specimens can be found just about anywhere, but by far the best place to start looking for them is in shady, moist woodland landscapes.

As with all good plant photography, you will need to get to know your subject well and look for angles and compositions that reveal its true character.

Here, we’ll show you some great techniques that will help you capture striking pictures of ferns for yourself.

Get it right in-camera
Use a tripod and cable release to avoid camera shake. A macro lens will enable you to get up close and it’ll be easier to focus in Manual mode. Select a wide aperture (f/2.8) to blur the background, and shoot in raw.

Control the light
To take our images, we used a home-made reflector (a piece of white card covered in foil) to bounce what light there was onto the subject. An off-camera flash connected via a cable can also be effective.

In the digital darkroom
We shot in raw format to maximise the image quality. We worked hard to create a good file, so there wasn’t too much post-processing. Using Adobe Camera Raw, we fine-tuned the white balance and boosted the contrast.

Photo of the day: 1 August

samanthacliffe — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 09:00:33 +0000

Samurai by’johnnie2bad‘

This is a very creative image that was created taking a photograph of ferns, and applying a reflection effect in Photoshop. The highlights and deep blacks accentuate the shapes and curves on the ferns.

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Or view more inspirational photography

Photo of the day: 27 July

samanthacliffe — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 06:00:20 +0000

Little Moira by ‘yappingjak‘

This beautiful flora shot works well positioned in the centre of the image. As well as being softened by the shallow depth of field, the pale pastels colours that make up the background further soften this image.

You might also like:

How to set your autofocus for macro photography
Manual focus: What you need to know to get sharp images
Do or Di: Your lens markings explained

Gardens and Plants category winners: Photographer of the Year 2011

dcworld — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:03:09 +0000

Winner

Autumn Interlude, by Maria Kaimaki (Greece)

What the judges were looking for:
“Look for pictures that show the beauty of the world’s botanical delights. Entries should be original and striking. The judges will be looking for a creative take on the subject whether you’re shooting a garden vista or an abstracted detail.”

2nd place

The last dandelion, by Andrew Tucker (UK)

3rd place

Wheat ears!, by Ian Snowden (UK)

Photo Ideas

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