Photography: Of Flowers and Camera RAW

As with art, writing, and everything else that I do, I like to experiment. Often, that experimentation is very raw, very chaotic, and can lead to fascinating places. Other times, the experimentation is more clear, more precise, and still leads to interesting places.

In this case, I wanted to try taking some shots of the flowers in our backyard. It was a chance to work more with photography, to try and understand all of the nuances that go into taking a good picture. On the flip side, it also meant that I could work with Camera RAW, something that I’ve been getting very interested in.

Now, I considered writing this article on one piece, from taking the shot through final corrections in Camera RAW. But I couldn’t decide which of the photos I liked best, so I decided to show them all instead.

I shot all of them with my Canon T3i and its 18-55mm lens,with an ISO of 200, aperture of 5.6, and aperture priority. Click on any image below for a larger version.

On this first, quite pink set of flowers, I was trying to hone in on the center of the flower. I fooled with various settings in Camera RAW to add more detail in the white areas, and the clarity slider to sharpen the image some.

 Behind the pink flowers, you can just see the purple ones. I moved up to shoot those, and there was a bee floating around. Being allergic to bee stings, I very nearly tossed out a loud expletive and ran for cover. But I decided to stick around, and take some shots of it as closely as I could.

Most of those ended up just being average shots, so I moved over to our other planter. It has the same purple flowers in it, and a different bee, so I started taking some shots of it. One of those turned out pretty decently, so I worked it over a bit in CR. There’s a nice amount of detail in the bee, which I thought worked out well.

 In another planter, there was a lot more green in the background. I thought that the white and maroon flowers in it provided a good contrast, so I took some shots of it.

This one provided a little more of a challenge in CR. The highlights in the white areas added a nice contrast to the photo, but then it lost the details that I really liked in the highlights. I spent some time adjusting various things in CR, trying to find the balance between the two.

I love how the camera picked up some of the very tiny details. The hair-like regions of the plant, the texture in the white areas, even the way the dead areas crinkle together.

 I also love both black and white photography and duotones. If you aren’t familiar, duotones are just what the word sounds like, they are images with just two colors. It’s a fun thing to work with, so I decided to try it out using Camera RAW’s abilities.

I spent a bit of extra time trying things out, before ending up on a sepia-toned look. There was a good amount of contrast in the image, and that helped it quite a bit.

 Lastly, I was looking at all of the final images in Adobe Bridge, and I came across one of the first ones that I took. It was of a single, tall flower, and I liked how it looked. I thought it would be a nice one to work with, and I think it came out nicely. I’ll have to try a duotone with it too.

 This should be a fun summer of trying out the camera with different ideas. I’m looking forward to it, and I hope you are as well.