Basics of orchid photography P.1
The basics
First off: there is a difference between a picture and a photo. Anyone can take a picture, but not everyone can take a photo. Pictures are more casually taken, photographs are carefully and thoughtfully composed. If you find yourself snapping away and oblivious of what is in the background or just using the AUTO setting, then you are just taking pictures.
I believe that in just a few exceptions, most point and shoots are capable of taking good photos as much as a DSLR. But there are three things you need to look for. First is that that camera's lowest ISO setting should, in my view, not exceed 125. ISO settings refer to a camera's sensitivity to light and for this matter, your camera's light meter is going to be its partner tool. The lower the setting, the less the camera is able to take acceptable pictures in less than optimal lighting conditions (e.g. during early dawn, dusk, at night, or in heavily shaded situations). Higher settings will allow you to take such photos but with one caveat: in many point and shoots, higher ISO settings, in 400 or more, also bring in what is called 'white noise', which gives photos a grainy quality. This is fine for artsy-fartsy photos, but it is seldom acceptable for flower shots, where clarity is one of the aims. If you are using a DSLR, particularly the more recent models, then this quirk is of little or no concern. How about the light meter? Chances are that you have seen one. It's that vertical or horizontal bar with a negative (-) sign at one end and a positive (+) sign at the other. You can manipulate the light meter to lean towards any of those signs, keeping in mind that the - sign tells you that the photo you are about to take will be darker, while leaning towards + will make your photo more 'exposed' (i.e. brighter). The lower your ISO setting, the more you need to jack up the meter towards +. But in less than acceptable lighting, you may notice the shutter speed slowing down- more on this later. But DSLR or not, let us say that the lighting conditions are less than suitable and you want to use a low ISO setting and you want the photo slightly underexposed (leaning a bit to the - sign) but was taken aback by either a blinking square or '!', then this means one thing: to compensate for the poor light, the camera needs a slower shutter speed. But a slower shutter speed increases the likelihood that your photo is going to be blurry. To get around this, simply use a tripod and set the camera on a timer (I use the 2-second one). If you don't have one, then prop the camera up on whatever you can find.
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| This mycoheterotrophic (parasitic on fungus) orchid Cystorchis aphylla was found in a very shady undergrowth. Using a tripod allowed me to slow the shutter speed enough to permit sufficient lighting. A handheld camera in such situations will only result in a blurry picture. Shutter speed is at 1/15, the aperture is f/3.5 with the ISO set at 125. |
The second consideration will be the shutter speed. You probably already noticed that a camera's shutter bears a strong resemblance to an eye, eyelids including. The faster the shutter speed, the faster those shutters 'blink'. The faster the shutter speed, the less light enters the camera. The faster the shutter speed, the darker your photo gets- unless you are taking shots in bright light. Depending on the camera at hand and on the lighting conditions, camera shake occurs at speeds between 1/20th to 1/50th of a second. Wait, what? Imagine that one second divided into 20. That is how fast the shutter blinks at a shutter speed of 1/20th. You might think that is fast enough, but in photography, a shutter speed of 1/20th makes the photo susceptible to camera shake. Camera shake refers to that movement you make when you raise your hands and press the shutter button. Unless you're a robot, rest assured that those arms and hands twitch, however stable you think those are. And when you make those twitches at a low ISO setting in a slow shutter speed, then you get a blurry shot. The faster your shutter speed, the crisper your photo gets because the effects of camera shake are eliminated. I often do not concern myself with shutter speeds and let the light meter do the talking, unless I am operating the camera in not-so-bright light in which case camera shake rears its ugly head again and I am going to need either a prop, or a slightly higher ISO setting.
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| This photo of Pholidota ventricosa was taken with a shutter speed of 1/200th and an aperture of f/3.5. The wide aperture allowed a blurred background than if I used a higher setting. ISO is set at 64. |
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| If the background is naturalistic enough, then there is no need to blur it. Dendrobium profusum is shown here. |
Your third consideration will be the aperture, but be aware that this feature is often manipulable only in DSLRs; in point and shoots it is usually the camera itself that decides on which f-stop it wants to use for a particular shot. Simply put, the higher the number of the f-stop (called an open aperture because the aperture looks like it's squinting), the more distinguishable the background. Conversely, a lower number (open aperture because the aperture is wide open in this setting) will make your subject stand out more because it blurs the background. Thus, in f/22 you will still see the background details, which is barely possible in f/2.8, for example. But what if you are only using a point and shoot and you want to get rid of distracting background features? This brings us to a discussion on black cloths.
Blocking with black
I have noticed that one of the things that set apart casual picture-takers from photographers is that the former is often too focused on his subject matter that unwanted background elements creep in, ruining the shot. In my classes, I used to joke about people who take selfies but oblivious of annoying distractions in the background like rows clothes on hangers or dogs licking their nether regions. Of course with orchids, you can get away with casual shots with some leaves or pots peeking at the background, but since we are talking here of photography, you would not want to settle with that, would you? Apart from adjusting your camera's aperture settings, you can use a black cloth to provide a barrier to what's in the background and to better stand your subjects out. You can use any type of cloth for this, and I am myself not averse to even using black t-shirts for this purpose. Only make sure that the subject matter isn't sitting close to the black cloth behind, or the latter's fabric may be apparent on the final image.
These three orchids below were photographed using a point and shoot under natural lighting and with a black cloth behind them. From top to bottom: Bucket Orchid (Coryanthes macrantha), Psychopsis papilio, Dendrobium jyrdii.
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In such composed shots and if plant size permits, I can prop an orchid plant on a chair then hang a black shirt at the backrest. It's that simple. If I want a more dramatic photo with more diffused lighting, I can take the entire arrangement inside the house then set the camera on a tripod, which gives the advantage of being able to use a very slow shutter speed without worrying of camera shake. The caveat here is that because of the low light, the slow shutter speed makes your subjects vulnerable to blur due to effects of even the slightest breeze. Believe it or not, I hold my breath as the timer winds down and the camera takes a photo. This is particularly true for flowers on long inflorescences like in many Phalaenopsis, but not a concern at all with flowers on short peduncles on stiff stems such as in Trichoglottis. On rare occasions, indoor lighting may not be enough to illuminate some plant parts such as the inside of the labellum, and in these situations, I use an ordinary flashlight strategically positioned to provide illumination where I want it to be. That's it. No expensive or complicated camera gear. Sometimes the fibers on the black cloth's fabric may be apparent on the photo, and one way you can get around this is to very slightly overexpose the shot, then adjust the exposure during post-processing.
If you have quite a small black cloth or shirt at your disposal and find that it isn't quite enough to provide a black background, then you can position your camera further up then zoom in the lens. It's that simple. If your subject is quite sizeable and you have nowhere to hang the cloth, set your timer to 10 or 12 seconds, depending on what is available, then hold the cloth yourself.
Speaking of blocking, when you are using a point and shoot, you may notice that the camera may keep on focusing on the background instead of the subject matter. Make sure that the Macro setting is on, which will allow you to come closer to your subject, but there is a limit. If you come too close, don't expect the camera to work miracles. Using the highest resolution available then cropping the picture upon post-processing will let you have the close-up photo you want. If you already have the Macro on and you are not abusing its capabilities, place one of your hands behind the subject to block the background, then re-focus.
Flash or natural light?
When I was still starting out with taking orchid photos, I would almost always use a flash because I like the crisp colors I get. But I eventually discarded the approach because 1. flash provides unnatural saturation where the colors become deeper than in real life, 2. I do not like the shadows it causes on the flower parts. If you have a DSLR you can, of course, use a ring flash but it does not guarantee shadow-free photos at all times. Don't get me wrong here- shadows add depth to a photograph, but the sharp transition from shadows to illuminated portions is for me, jarring and hence very unattractive. Besides, there is a certain kind of poetry with working around natural lighting.
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To be continued on P.2...
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