There are so many things to photograph - what do you choose?  Although we humans have been making and recording images for more than 40,000 years, we have been using cameras for less than 200.  Yet today, everyday, 300 million photos are uploaded to Facebook, and 380 billion photos were taken in 2012.

So what’s my point?  James puts it best in Chapter 4:14,  ”Your life is like the morning fog–it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.”  We intrinsically understand this fact and desire to stop the inevitable march of time. We want to “record” a moment in time for posterity.

Consider this: You are able to capture an image before your eyes, forever eternal based on your choosing. Wow!

I can think of few things as fleeting and beautiful as the dance and youth – when combined there is pure magic.  This week-end I had the privilege to photograph the Curtain Call Dance company’s recital, “Celebrate.”  Along with my granddaughter Kylie, I have grown to know some of the other performers over the years and herein share some of my favorite images.  I have watched and enjoyed seeing them metamorphosis from little girls to budding women, from trying to just remember their steps to beginning to understand and master the art and beauty of the dance.

Photographically dance is difficult.  Flash is not permitted, the light is dim and rapidly changing, you’re normally distant from your subject – which of course is constantly moving and often there are a number of dancers surrounding – i.e. in front of – the one you want to photograph.  After a number of years experimenting here is my advice – use a fast telephoto – these were taken with a 200mm f2.8 lens wide open - to isolate your subject and fill your frame.  Increase your iso to 1600 or so, thus permitting a shutter speed of 1/320 sec.  This allows you to freeze motion without degrading the image too much. Remember you are exposing for the face/skin which is lit, don’t worry about the background; it may even go to black – as below. Goal – stopping the motion at peak for tack-sharp photos that tell a story.

And if the photo Gods are benevolent  you just might catch the beauty, joy and moment of youth – frozen by your camera – forever.

I love her expression, the position (the result of many hours of training), the beautiful costume, the wonderful reflection, but most of all I like the shoe sole – that tells the story!   I shall treasure this photo forever -hopefully some day her daughter will treasure it also.  Those are the images I strive to capture.

Whew!  Now couple of days after the race and I have recovered sufficiently to review and put some final thoughts on the Month of May’s festivities.

First – it was a blast (I hope you have followed some of my daily posts), accelerated learning in photography, many wonderful friendships made and renewed, and even more appreciation for the skill of the drivers and crews.  I was assigned to follow/photograph the Apex-Brasil group and their guests at the track.  They supply the fuel and are a large government funded consortium of Brazilian companies who’s business purpose it is to sell Brazilian products in the US.  They are large supporters of the IZOD Indy Racing series and my job was to join their group, document their activities and provide a souvenir disk of pictures from the Indy 500 to each of their guests.  Well, Tony Kanaan – the eventual winner – is Brazilian and so he was part of the group for a number of activities.  We did tours, a dinner, breakfast, guest shots, etc.  It was fun and I will say they know how to party – specially if their guy wins!!!

Here is Tony and His wife:

We set this wall up and then took pictures of each of the guests with Tony on Saturday night.  A large component of a drivers responsibilities is off-the-track in these type of activities.  They are a very nice couple and mixed well with the group.

This picture was from Sunday morning at around 10 am – about two-hours before the start. Tony stopped by for a short breakfast session, addressed the group – His final line – “I’m going to win today!”  Very providential I would say.  He was quite relaxed, but you could tell he was starting to get focused.

One the way from the breakfast to the Brazilian Suite (mid-way down on the main straight – the place and way to see the race for sure!) I noticed this little boy with his parents – he was obviously a true fan with his fire-retardant racing suit on:

And, actually this is my favorite photograph from the entire race week-end.  I asked him who he was rooting for? He said, “Tony.”  I said, “I just had breakfast with Tony and he said he was going to win!”  The kids eyes lit up and that childhood pureness just flowed from him.  Little did I know that his guy was really going to win.  Then as the race time drew near I left the Brazilian’s and went to Turn #2 inside where I was assigned for the race.  It was a really great race with nearly 70 lead changes and a number of teams were contending for the win.  However, Tony took the lead on a re-start with three laps to go, and won under a subsequent yellow.  Here he was in his last lap under full steam -

It was a day to remember, and I think the Brazilians from Apex-Brasil are still partying!

I had a great time, took a couple thousand pictures, saw and met a bunch of famous, not-so-famous, and wonderful fans and certainly improved my photography skills.  Brickyard 400 is next – can’t wait.

What DO you do when you’re at the track?  I get that question quite often.  Mostly people think that being a sports photographer at the largest one day sporting event in the world is all about taking pictures like the one above.  To some extent that is true, but there is much more to the task than that.  For example, it’s very important to get great individual shots of the drivers.  Shots that “tell a story” and reveal a little about the individual, are technically excellent,  and are composed so they can be used in print with text.  For example this is Carlos Munoz, Colombian driver and a rookie this year.

Not only is he really good-looking but a pretty darn good driver also.  Remembering that the fans are the ones who make the whole thing possible we work very hard to make them feel special and recognize their importance – without the fans there would be no race. A special photograph recognizing them and their day at the track is important. Here are the winners of the CrossFit Competition – I posed them on the race winner’s podium with banner and Indy Logo. (This is not the final pix, but has the coach so good illustration)

I can tell you they were thrilled to be on the podium – we didn’t let them drink/splash the milk however since it stinks very quickly in the heat and is hard to clean up!  Beside documenting the race and surrounding activities one of the most important functions of the IMS Media group is to sell photos.  All photos that have been taken at the track and most series races are available to the public for purchase. With that in mind when we have a large group that may want commemorative photos we make sure we get as many as possible.  For example, the Chevrolet Camaro club was on-site and got to drive two laps round the track on Sunday.  Well, if you’re a race fan that’s a pretty big deal.  So I was assigned to document the group.  So I took a group shot (shown below) and then as many individual cars “crossing the bricks” as possible.

Well, they were three cars across and they did two laps with I’m sure more than a hundred different cars participating – so I think I took around 230 pictures during the laps.  Well, it’s my understanding that 60% will buy a 8×10 shot for $10 or so if the shot is clear and shows them at the iconic bricks – “ka ching.”

Then there is all of the activity that takes place which supports the team’s track time.  I personally really like to document the working crews, mechanics and pit crews.  They are the “team” that really wins the races.  The drivers are working to gain/loose hundredth’s of a second while on-track, but during a pit stop for fuel and tires a great crew might save a second – that is 50 or 100 times the gain!  So they really are important – the famous Wood Brothers were the first to understand this and made both themselves and their teams famous. Here is one practicing:

However, sometimes we forget that racing can be a very dangerous game.  Each time the driver gets into the cockpit they really don’t know if they will return in the same condition as when they left.  The sport, and Indy in particular has really worked hard to make both the cars and the track itself safer thus reducing the probability of serious injury or death.  But you can really start to understand the seriousness of driving 240 mph three wide down a straightaway that is 3 1/2 lanes wide when you see the drivers go from “personality” to “driver.”  I think the best shot to tell that story is when they don the fire-proof sock before putting on their helmet.  Here is Will Power getting ready to go:

Obviously, getting ready for serious business.  Each of these photos takes different photographic skills, some panning with a big lens, some straight news/journalism, some portraits – but the common thread in all great photography remains – “telling a story.”  That’s what I and my co-photographers strive to do with each image.

So, hopefully this gives you a glimpse into the racing sports photography world.  Slow today, but beginning tomorrow building to Sunday’s Indy 500 – the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”  What an opportunity for an ol’ man – thanks for coming by today.  More to come . . .

Last Saturday was the Celebration of Automobiles which is held in conjunction with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway 500 mile race.  For the last three years they have held a exhibition of  important historical automobiles.  Well, you know by now that antique automobiles are my absolute favorite, and photographing them is even better.  The really nice thing about this event is that the automobiles are accessible – no ropes ; the quality of the entries is superb, and since I work for IMS Media during race time I have early access before the public arrives.  What does this mean?  – a wonderful day and a thousand pictures.

My favorite this year was this 1937 Delahaye Type 145 V-12 Grand Prix car owned by Peter Mullin of Oxnard, Calif.

The lines and curves of the body are without a doubt some of the nicest that I have ever photographed.  A little additional research yielded the following interesting information:

“Mullin’s Delahaye Type 145 was one of four race cars built by the Ecurie Bleue Racing Team seeking to win a 1-million Franc prize offered in 1937 by the French government to encourage the nation’s automobile manufacturers to defeat the German teams that dominated European racing.

Featuring a 4.5-liter V-12 engine with four-wheel hydraulically-operated ventilated drum brakes, the Delahaye chassis No. 48771 was driven by Rene Dreyfus, who set a record with an average speed of 91.2 mph over 16 laps Aug. 27, 1937 at the Autodrome de Montlhery near Paris. Dreyfus, who had a successful career in Europe, co-drove a Maserati with Rene LeBegue and finished 10^th in the 1940 Indianapolis 500 won by three-time ‘500’ winner Wilbur Shaw.

The Delahaye went on to defeat the Mercedes Silver Arrows by winning the 1938 Grand Prix de Pau, and it also won that year’s Grand Prix de Cork before Europe was engulfed by World War II and automobile racing ceased.

“It was probably the apex in history of the automobile combination of design, engineering and performance, and an interest led to a commitment and commitment led to a passion, and passion led to a museum, so it’s a spiraling effect of things that you love and cherish.”

Of all the magnificent French cars that Mullin owns, one of his favorites is the 1937 Delahaye V-12 cylinder race car.

“It is unquestionably the most famous racing Delahaye,” Mullin said. “Driven by Rene Dreyfus, who I think was if not the best, was certainly one of the two or three best race drivers in French history. The car defeated Germany’s Mercedes Silver Arrows, which completely freaked out Hitler, who didn’t think anybody should be able to beat his vaunted Silver Arrows. When war broke out, the German troops were told to go find the car and destroy it. So it was hidden in the side of a hill in northern France during most of the war and then brought back out after the war was over, so it has a tremendous history of intrigue, design and accomplishment.”

I got to meet and talk with Mr. Mullins and he was a true gentlemen.  I hope someday to visit his museum in Oxnard, California and photograph the other unbelievable French cars in his collection.  I am so blessed to have the opportunity to do this, meet the wonderful people who own, cherish, and truly love these “art on wheels”, and preserve their beauty and my memories in photographs.  One of these will be enlarged to 20″x30″, framed and placed on my studio wall – I promise.

Thanks for a little French racing history interlude.  More of my automobile images can be seen at:    DougMathewsPhotography

Saturday was a significant day in our family; my wife, in her mid-60′s, participated in and completed her third half-marathon running/walking the Indianapolis 500 Festival Mini-Marathon.

This year I did not participate and acted as her support team.  This is the largest half-marathon in the country with over 35,000 participants.  The 13.1 mile course includes a lap around the famed 2 1/2 mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway track, a huge number of bands and associated entertainment scatted along the course, and as you can see from the lead picture – everyone is around.

I dropped her off at the starting area with 35k of her friends – it takes more than 30 minutes to get all the runners across the starting line – and drove down to the nine mile marker to wait for her.  I wasn’t there very long and the first of the elite runners came by:

As you can see, he was “floating,” airborne and going faster at the 9.5 mile marker than I could do for 30 yards.  The pros –  they have a smooth efficient gait that is so beautiful to watch.  He ( Alene Rita) was the eventual winner in 1 hour 3 minutes.  Not long after him came the first woman.  Again she was going so fast I almost missed seeing her.  Sarah Kaptoo was like dancing down the course, effortlessly covering enormous lengths of ground in impossibly short periods of time. She finished first for women in 1:12.

Again, “nothing but air.” I just love to watch them run.  My shutter speed of 1/250 sec was fast enough to freeze her – but not her feet!  I knew quite a few people who were participating, but with so many it is nearly impossible to find and identify anyone.  I did see my daughter – actually she saw me first – and snapped a nice shot.

She completed in 1:54 (230 out of 2380 in her age/sex bracket), and as you can see there were a whole lot of guys behind her as she goes around the curve! Maybe they just like to follow her? Her husband, Brett was with her – but I didn’t see him.  She not only runs like the wind, but dresses like a model for Nike.  But my real purpose was to support my wife, Fay.

She had trained very hard and was well prepared this year.  She was in good shape when she arrived at mile 9.  When she arrived we checked her sugar ( she is an insulin dependent diabetic), and after verifying it was good I gave her some cold chocolate milk, and a piece of candy to help her with the remaining 4 miles.  I then dashed from my spot back to the finish line, thankfully in time so see her cross the finish line:

It’s amazing to me but she was smiling – as you can see – and was moving at a good steady clip.  I was extremely proud as she went down the chute to get her medal.

She worked very hard for a long time, and to actually have the guts to not only start, but finish – with a whole lot of people behind her (completed in 3:43, ranked 297/400 in her age class) - makes me really really proud.

It is a wonderful event, stronger yet with all that has went on, and to have three of my family members participate and finish made me so proud, not only them but of all of the others who worked hard and did it!  Great Job…

Photographically, it was pretty straight forward – “f8 and be there” – made better this year as is was overcast and the light was even.  It might seem that watching 35,000 runner pass by would be boring, but it is a people watchers dream.

One last word, you could do it also – it takes training and determination but you could do it if you really wanted to – setting and achieving goals keeps us all going.

The National House Inn of Marshall, Michigan. The National House Inn bed and breakfast  is the oldest operating hotel in the State of Michigan. It has been designated as a State Historical site and is also listed on the National Register of Historical Places. The Inn was built in 1835 by Colonel Andrew Mann who used lumber from the Ketchum sawmill and bricks that were molded and fired on the site to construct what has endured as the oldest brick building in Calhoun County.  The rooms are wonderful, breakfast was memorable, and the location is one of the nicest places we’ve stayed.  It is one of my wife’s favorites.Marshall, Michigan is a small community located in south central Michigan.  Time has been kind to Marshall and the town-fathers visionary in maintaining the character and feel of a small 19th century village.    I have often visited and stayed at the National House Inn while traveling across I-94 between Chicago and Detroit on both business and pleasure trips.  This time we were on the way to a 50th class reunion – another story.

Marshall has been referred to by the keeper of the National Register of Historic Places as a “virtual textbook of 19th-Century American architecture.” It is home to one of the nation’s largest National Historic Landmark Districts. There are over 850 buildings included in the Landmark.  I think each of the 850 has a distinctiveness, although we had only a short time there this time I did catch three interesting doors that I think will look nice together.  Here is number two:

Yes, I know the light was brutal and these are not gallery photos, but sometimes you just need to record what is interesting.  And, this one was very interesting:

This is only a small sample of the architectural delights in this small town – I didn’t mention one of the best restaurants around – the original Schulers – for 100 years a great place to eat a fine meal.

No, I don’t work for the town, and get nothing in return, but sharing one of my favorite places with my friends is special in itself.  Maybe next time I can stay a little longer, and wait for the light to soften and get some really nice photos.  If you’re in the area; stop in and take time to look around – some of the best things in life are a little off the main road.  I know you will enjoy the stay.

Gotta go – I’m on my way to see the famous white squirrels of Olney, Illinois.

Just returned from two weeks of training in Arlington, Texas. (That’s why no blog last week) Most of the time was spent in class and homework, but did get a chance to take a couple of photos.  The Texas Bluebells were a bloomin’.  I found out that when they are blooming the people are not permitted to mow them, or harm in any way.  They were everywhere and really beautiful – as you can see.

Found a couple of interesting cars.  This is a 1935 Chrysler Air Flow – considered the first real streamline production car. It was in beautiful condition, and looked markedly modern from a number of angles.  Look at this fender/grill shot – could be this years model.

Likely the hood mascot wouldn’t pass government safety requirements, but the rest still looks mighty fine.

But the real highlight was the Addison War Bird museum.  They have the only flying B-29 bomber from WWII; “FIFI.”  It was a magnificent machine:

It is huge – to give a little scale if you look closely over the left inboard engine you will see a person sweeping the dust off the wing!  This is the type of bomber that delivered the nuclear bombs to end the war with Japan.  It was in for maintenance and I was able to climb and look it over very closely.  The light was terrible for photography, but is was a cool experience.  You can take rides in it – I would just like to hear and see it take off.  While at the air strip a F-16 was there and departed about the same time as me, so got one parting shot of the new kid while admiring the ol’ General.  A thoroughly fun afternoon, and a great diversion from the training.

A little contrail off the wing tip, and some engine heat makes a nice picture.  Had a great time and would recommend the Cavanaugh Flight Museum in Addision, Texas – just north of Dallas.  They give rides in a number of restored aircraft, including the B-29, and house a wonderful collection of WWI, WWIII, Korean War, Vietnam – American, British, German (ME-109 for example), and Russian military aircraft.  I really enjoyed seeing the WWI bi-plane and tri-planes.  You could really see the development and engineering changes as the war progressed.

So again, making the best of the trip and remembering the time through photography.  Thanks for coming along with me.

Delightful Model T Dirt track Racer, 1926

I was rather mindlessly cruzing along I-70 on my way to deliver a print to the Packard Museum in Dayton the other day when I noticed a road side billboard – I guess they do work – advertising the “Model T Museum” in Richmond, Indiana.  “Gee, I haven’t noticed that, and I have been wanting to check out Richmond’s historic district and look at the murals anyway.” I thought to myself as the concrete miles passed by.

One of the nice things about being retired is that you can follow a whim when the mood suits you, so when I came to the exit for Richmond I followed that whim.

Now Richmond is on the far east side of Indiana on the Ohio border. It is sometimes called the “cradle of recorded jazz” because some early jazz records were made here at the studio of Gennett Records and since it was located on the Old National Road (Route 40) the first road built by the federal government and a major route west for pioneers of the 19th century and along the White River it was a transportation center.  The city has done a pretty good job of restoring the historic part of town, and a number of large painted murals and nice old buildings dot the area.  Also, it is the home to the Model T Ford Club of America’s Model T Museum.

Model T racer’s hood mascot

Anyway, I checked out some murals, found the museum and was happy to see that it was “open.”  A smallish metal building set in the historic district there was little evidence of the treasures within.  A wonderful docent was more that happy to let me take pictures (with a tripod – which is always nice) and eagerly explained the museum and exhibits.  There were about a dozen cars and a wonderful home-built Pientenpol aircraft from the 30′s.  The collection was stunning.  Varying from one of the first 1909 Model T’s to one of the last (1927) and a number of very interesting cut-aways of engines, transmissions, and motors it far exceeded my expectations.

Photography was difficult because of the small space and many cars, and the dreaded florescent lighting.  But the interesting subject matter more than made up for it. This was my favorite:

A 1909, Model T cross-country racer( replica)  This car won the race from New York City to Seattle in 23 days (References said it was disqualified some months later because an axle was changed during the race, but not before Henry Ford had made hay with the win – sounds like some debate is still going on – kinda like who actually won the first Indy 500.  but still. . .)   This car was so cool and the display was excellent with hat/goggles/etc.  I researched it a little and here was an excerpt by the drivers on one of the two Model T’s, “We were on the top of the last difficulty (Snolqualmie Pass). We had pushed through the snow with less trouble than we had expected. We would be in Seattle by four o’clock. When a rock hidden in the mud and snow sprang up to give us one last foul blow. For seven hours we worked on the top of the mountain up among the clouds remedying the trouble that rock had caused. At 5 p.m. [June 23] we were going again. A half mile over the ties of the new “Milwaukee” railroad brought us to the down grade and ninety miles from the finish. The rest was easy” (Prater)  I-90 now crosses Snoqualmie Pass in Washington State and it is till a dangerous place in the winter.  I couldn’t image racing this car on those primitive roads for 23 days – what an adventure.  Ford is still at it, here is an article from Car and Driver on the race:   Race

This “Fishin’ T” was very interesting and reminded me of an early ‘rat rod.” lots of great details and a bunch of hard work, with oars, floaties, and working propellers in the rear!

This 1931 Pietenpol airplane, #1 was wonderfully displayed on a stand.  Home-made in Eastern Minnesota by a self-trained mechanic/designer with many more home-built completed from his plans over the years.  It was powered by a Model T Engine, with the radiator folded in half – probably hard to see to land I imagine.  It was interesting, as was this entire museum.

A lesson here for us all:  Sometimes you need to take the time to follow a whim – you might just find a diamond that you would have never known about otherwise.  If you ever get to this part of the country – please stop by and look at these cars – Model T’s – likely the most important car in history, a nice gift shop and solid reference library – a whole lot packed into a great little museum.  A truly super place to spend some time I’ll be back!

For more pictures from my visit click on:  Model T

Roy Hibbert making a great block on Jeff Teague

‘Wow, there are a whole lot of very tall guys in this place.” I joked with my wife as we entered Baker’s Life Arena last week to watch the Pacers take on the Atlanta Hawks, ” and they are big too!”

We had scored some nice lower level tickets during a silent auction at the Dance for Cancer fundraiser a few weeks ago, and we were excited to see the Pacers since we hadn’t been to an NBA game since Jordan was playing for the Bulls in the United Center – now those were some games.

I was excited as we reached our seats as we were at the top of the lower level about 45 degrees from the basket on the aisle.  I had a good unobstructed angle for this end and a straight look at the far basket.  I also saw a lady I knew who was in charge of the ajoining section and inquired with her about where I could stand (had to stay in your seat) to take photos. She kindly offered to let me sit very close to the floor during the third period if there was a vacant seat – in exchange for a photo.  There was an open seat and I’m grateful to her as it was really close and the angle still wasn’t bad. More on that later.

I had brought a compact 18-300mm zoom lens and the lighting was pretty good.  I used shutter priority at 400/sec to stop the action, set the lens wide open at 4.5f and let the ISO range from 100 to 3200 as light dictated.  I could go into a long discussion of equipment for indoor sports photography, but basically it’s simple:  if you are going to make a living at it then you need a very large checkbook. I don’t have that luxury, but within my equipment limitations I thought the photos came out pretty good.

Face. Contact. Action. Ball. The elements of a great sport photograph.  You can see how the four are applied in this photo, especially “contact”:

Your ability to get the shot, in sport photography more than any other field, requires more than “F8 and Be There”.

1. Know Your Sport. The ability to anticipate where the action will be, to predict the drama by understanding the rules and thus the rulings, to be prepared for the ecstasy and agony of the competitors is what will make your photos special.  The “mano el mano” of this photo of Paul Granger and Mack ready for action and the way the “face-action-ball,” especially the faces inches apart with the ball protected in true NBA fasion – set it apart – and actually is the shot I liked the best.

2. Fill your frame with action. Minimize distracting backgrounds. Choose the right depth of field. Make sure that the play or the player is your subject. Shoot tight, crop tighter. This shot of Roy Hibbert’s hook shot was almost great – I just missed the “ball” a little, but it’s close and the background is a little out of focus which is good.

3. Pick the right shutter speed. In general you’ll want to be freezing the action, so your shutter will need to be fast, fast, fast. If motion blur is desirable to help convey the story or set the mood a slower shutter speed may be OK. In this shot of Green going for the dunk the shutter stopped the motion, but his fast feet blurred a little – worked out well.

So we had a great time, the Pacers won the game, although the Hawks were closing fast at the end, and I learned a whole lot about photographing a NBA game; 1) the players and action is vertical – so use your camera in the vertical position. It’s harder but shots are better.  2) You don’t have to be setting on the floor to get good photos, a little higher angle with a little longer lens can yield good shots. 3) Watch the backgrounds, get close in to minimize the crowd,  or blur them if you can so it isn’t distracting. 4)  You can have a great time and get pretty good photos with normal equipment and a fairly good location – location is everything.  The on-the-floor guys have that low angle which takes a lot of the crowd out and allows great close-ups – that’s why they are pro’s.  All that said – we had a ball, learned a lot, and hope you have enjoyed “going along.”

For more of my shots from the game click here:   NBA

“Give me a break, I don’t believe that we are getting another foot of snow – it’s March for crying out loud!” I shouted as my favorite weatherman gave us the bad news.  I don’t know about you but I am really tired of this Winter.  I don’t normally mind winter, but this incessant gray pallor has got me down. Everything outside I see is that crappy after-snow-before Spring brown.

So I thought that a little flower photography would cheer me, and perhaps through these pictures cheer you a little and get us both in the mood for some of that great Spring green.

My dear departed mother’s favorite flowers were Calla Lilies.  I don’t know why, perhaps because in her mind they were so exotic (Native to Africa, and famously painted by Georgia O’Keeffe my Mom’s favorite painter.) and represented those far-away places that we would never get to see.  Amazingly these were picked in Columbia in the morning and sold to me the next afternoon at my local Marsh supermarket flower shop – that is astonishing in itself. They really are beautiful flowers and lend themselves to a number of really nice photographic angles.  I call this one “Lovers.”

Some guidelines for photographing flowers:  First – get on the same level as the flower – don’t shoot directly down, next pick angles that accentuate the natural lines of that particular flower.  Keep the background simple.  I used black velvet and a white board for these shots. For lighting I used a north facing window and in some cases a sheet to diffuse the light.  Use a small f/stop so that the majority of the flower is in focus, and finally – get close.  Remember, if you think you have a good photo get twice as close and it will end up twice as good!

Also, don’t limit yourself to only color.  Most cameras and cell phones have a black and white setting.  Try experimenting sometimes they come out unexpectedly nice:

And don’t be afraid to get really close, as the flowers are still identifiable and the view is wonderful:

This was taken with an IPad and de-colorized.  The abstract retains the characteristic look of the Calli Lily and makes a wonderful composition.  I really like the abstracts like the Facebook lead-in photo.

Shooting flowers under controlled conditions is a great way to learn about lighting, try out the settings on your camera that you never use, and generally have fun while likely producing at least one photograph that would look superb on your wall. Most importantly, it lets you forget the terrible weather outside and enjoy a glimpse of God’s natural beauty.

And a last one to get us to Spring:

You can see more of my flower photography here:  flowers