Need recommendation for good book on (gasp) flower photography

[Bill_1856]

Thanks,
B.

[Dan Fromm]

Bill, I'm wasn't aware of any so took a look at what a search on abebooks.com for the title flower photography would find. There's a large handful, have no idea which is any good at all.

When I started shooting such subjects I consulted A. A. Blaker's book Field Photography. Strong 35 mm orientation but it covers closeup work's basics fairly well. There's also Lester Lefkowitz The Manual of closeup photography to get you up to speed if you aren't already.

I've had very mixed results shooting flowers with my 2x3 Graphics. The big problem is that if the flowers aren't inherently immobile -- for example, Stapelia, Huernia, some orchids -- the time lapse between focusing and composing and taking the shot allows the plane of best focus to move away from where I'd put it. Motion blur isn't much of a problem 'cos I use flash. But I usually use focus and the composition while closing the lens, cocking the shutter, inserting the film holder, ... There's also the nearly overwhelming temptation to fill the frame with the subject, a recipe for poor sharpness everywhere if I shoot well stopped down or poor sharpness nearly everywhere (lack of DoF) if I shoot near wide open.

[dpn]

John Shaw's old book on macro photography is good. With LF, lighting and stability (of the subject matter) are going to be the hard parts. Finding a good tripod that can get low enough to the ground, but also offer the stability to support a LF camera, is going to be a challenge (Ries are stable, but not low enough. Gitzo Explorers may be OK. Beanbags work, but I wouldn't trust them to hold position.) Get ready to be on your belly a lot! Movements will help with DOF, but you'll still be fighting for depth. Use a white umbrella or scrim to help with light and wind. A "plamp" is also good. Still, get ready to do math on reciprocity and bellows before you take the shot. And hope the wind doesn't blow or the light doesn't change!

Still life flowers are eminently doable in LF, but field LF macro work seems tough for a lot of reasons. I got good results with a Mamiya RZ67, but field macro was still challenging even with a good MF system.

For me, personally, digital is the right tool for field macro work.

(I'm on year five of a long project to photograph every species of Calochortus in California. Flowers and fungi are my photographic passions.)

[Dan Fromm]

Interesting. I wouldn't recommend Closeups In Nature to anyone. Shaw may be a capable photographer but he's a poor teacher. Closeups In Nature doesn't explain much, just shows pretty pictures. Heather Angell (see her Book of Closeup Photography) does the John Shaw thing better than he does, and she's a better teacher too.

[dpn]

I learned a lot from that book, but admittedly it has been probably ten years since I opened it. If I recall correctly, his macro flash bracket instructions were quite good. I built, and enjoyed, one for my Canon Powershot G1.

I remember Robert Thompson's Close-Up on Insects: A Photographer's Guide fondly too, especially since the photographer used and discussed medium format film gear for macro work. For $3.77 used on Amazon, it's hard to go wrong. (https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/186108238X/naturephotogra06)

Heather Angel's portfolio has some lovely work.

[Peter Langham]

I would start with a book of Mapplethorpe's flowers. (or someone else's work you love). The rest is just figuring it out.

[xkaes]

Bill, I'm wasn't aware of any so took a look at what a search on abebooks.com for the title flower photography would find. There's a large handful, have no idea which is any good at all.

When I started shooting such subjects I consulted A. A. Blaker's book Field Photography. Strong 35 mm orientation but it covers closeup work's basics fairly well. There's also Lester Lefkowitz The Manual of closeup photography to get you up to speed if you aren't already.

Dan,

You nailed it!! Those are EXACTLY the two books I was going to recommend. Both are indepth and very well written. And as to large format macro work, I've had GREAT results with my 4X5 wooden Tokos (http://www.subclub.org/toko/index.htm). My main lenses are a Fujinon A 180mm f9 and four Minolta Rokkor-X Bellows lenses -- 100mm f4 Bellows Macro, 50mm f3.5 Bellows Macro, 25mm f2.5 Bellows Micro, and 12.5mm f2 Bellows Micro. Although they are designed for 35mm work, at high magnifications, they fill the 4X5 format with ease. The results are outstanding. Enlarging lenses are also a great option.

[dpn]

I'd love to see your work xkaes!

[HiHoSilver]

http://www.zebandrews.photos/secret-life-of-flowers/

[xkaes]

GREAT WORK, HIHO! I love lensless-photography photography. I've put together a page with many links dealing with the use of pinholes and "close-up filters" instead of lenses. It is at:

http://www.subclub.org/fujinon/close-up.htm

But if you prefer to stick with lenses, you can read all about FIJI's wonderful large format lenses at:

http://www.subclub.org/fujinon/index.htm

[dpn]

Here are my Calochortus:

http://www.danielnealphoto.com/p138643870

All digital, unfortunately, for the reasons above.

[David_Senesac]

...All digital, unfortunately, for the reasons above.

Same here if strategy is to get most of subject in detailed focus and not a bokeh type shot. Always digital in this era primarily because of overwhelming advantage of focus stack blending. Of course one can also adjust exposure optimally by taking test shots first. And one can use optimal middle lens aperture optics without stopping down. Focus stacking in macros of course has been a paradigm change however same applies to close-up subjects. And as with a view camera, now with a fixed lens system, one is no longer stuck with putting a lens perpendicular to most of a subject for better depth of field because from an oblique position one merely takes more frames at different focus points.

5900x4000 pixels 1 frame 8 image focus stack blend A6000 Sigma 60mm DN

http://www.davidsenesac.com/2016_Trip_Chronicles/PT01477-84bw.jpg

enlarged slice at half pixels:
http://www.davidsenesac.com/2016_Trip_Chronicles/PT01477-84be.jpg

And NO there is not much information beyond basics say in books or on websites to learn how to process these kinds of blended images well. Thus one needs to pays personal experience dues figuring out what is possible and how to do it.

David Senesac
http://www.davidsenesac.com/2016_Trip_Chronicles/2016_Trip-Chronicles-0.html

[Ted R]

Coming from the opposite direction (and also OT because digital) the close-up ability of my Canon PowerShot A700 camera is astounding. The small size of the camera allows natural light to be used because there is little shadowing by the camera body, many shots can be made hand-held. The lens autofocuses and autoexposes in the blink of an eye and can get within 1cm (0.5in) of the subject. Probably there are other similar close-focusing point-and-shoot cameras, and though they do not compete in the same class as the work shown above for casual work they are a pleasure to use.

[james13]

John Shaw's old book on portrait photography sydney (http://www.photographyinwollongong.com.au/portrait-photography/) is good. With LF, lighting and stability (of the subject matter) are going to be the hard parts. Finding a good tripod that can get low enough to the ground, but also offer the stability to support a LF camera, is going to be a challenge (Ries are stable, but not low enough. Gitzo Explorers may be OK. Beanbags work, but I wouldn't trust them to hold position.) Get ready to be on your belly a lot! Movements will help with DOF, but you'll still be fighting for depth. Use a white umbrella or scrim to help with light and wind. A "plamp" is also good. Still, get ready to do math on reciprocity and bellows before you take the shot. And hope the wind doesn't blow or the light doesn't change!

Still life flowers are eminently doable in LF, but field LF macro work seems tough for a lot of reasons. I got good results with a Mamiya RZ67, but field macro was still challenging even with a good MF system.

For me, personally, digital is the right tool for field macro work.

(I'm on year five of a long project to photograph every species of Calochortus in California. Flowers and fungi are my photographic passions.)

Here are 10 tips that will help you make the most of your flower photography this spring.
Photograph flowers on an overcast day. ...
Backlight will make your flowers glow. ...
Watch out for wind. ...
Get closer. ...
Use a reflector. ...
Avoid a cluttered background. ...
Use a shallow depth of field. ...
Make it sharp.