These Buds Are for You

So last week my post’s title stated that I thought I probably had too many flower photos.  It turned out that several people think one can never have too many flower photos.  Well I’m going to put you guys to the test.  Here are more flower photos.

 

This zinnia bud is one of the zinnias that grew three to four feet last year.  I needed some flowers late in the year this year (around the fourth of July) so I bought a tray of orange zinnias at one of the big box hardware stores.  I planted them around my bird bath and anticipated them growing tall like this one.  They didn’t.  I don’t think they got any taller that six to eight inches.  I guess these yellow with red trim zinnias are special.

 

These next two photos are coneflowers.

 

 

The next two buds are cosmoses.  Every now and then I’ll get a photo with a black background like this and not know how to repeat it.  I know if I can manage to get an angle where the background is dark and pretty far away from the flower I can get a very dark background but not black like this.   It’s usually a motley color mix of very dark browns, greys, and greens.

One night a few weeks ago I finally started reading a book I bought at a flea market two years ago.  It’s an “8 1/4” x “11” paperback about macro photography.  It was written before digital cameras still has good information.  All the info on exposure  and how to get the proper mix of ASA, shutter speed, and aperture makes me realize I don’t really miss film.  The book is loaded with beautiful, full page, color photos of flowers and insects.  The author explained that black backgrounds like this can be created if you use a flash and have enough distance between the subject and background.  I checked the EXIF info on this photo and sure enough I used flash when I took it.  So now I know how to repeat this look, and so do you.

 

 

As in a prior post, I started with a zinnia bud so I’ll end with one.

 

Thank you for stopping by.

David

All photos were taken with a Nikon D7100 and a Sigma 105mm macro lens.