ABC WEDNESDAY - Y IS FOR YELLOW NARCISSUS

I was going to do the obvious one for an island, yachts, but I've so many I was unable to view them with fresh eyes and instead plumped for a flora shot. Here's a narcissus. Not to be confused
apparently with a daffodil as there are subtle differences. A good rule oF thumb being narcissus petals lean back. Not a flower expert, but a friend of mine is and that's her main rule on the subject.

I often get emails asking to critique work or share tips. Flowers seem to feature quite often. Not at all my favourite to photograph, but I can share a secret or two about this one. Firstly it's not as it appears shot indoors. You DO NOT pick flowers to take home and photograph. I did however want the bold yellow and green to stand out, with out resorting to digital trickery. Photoshop is a cropping or desaturation tool for me. If you want to take good photos natural photos, ditch photoshop and learn how to use your camera.

So how to get the background without computer tools? Try putting a matt black card or sugar paper behind the image you want to photograph. Has to be matt so not to relflect any of the colours in the image. Do not use the flash, whatever the conditions. Play around with your ISO setting instead. A bright image against a black background will emit enough light, boost the natural colours and not blur the edges, so the projected image stays sharp. If you can use a tripod and remote. I never do anymore, but that's practise and shooting on breeze free days.

So if you don't mind looking a little eccentric wandering around with a black card up the local park(Mooragh Park in my case) and placing it behind the brightest most garish flowers and snapping away, it's worth it. This is one of my most requested flower shots to buy. Greetings cards, mainly Mother's Day obviously. Wedding cards too. Not bad for the price of A4 black card.

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