Iris Flower Photography

Iris flowers present the photographer with a beautiful floral subject. Forms are very unique and the flower comes in beautiful hues of white, purple or yellow. Usually I stumble upon them along the banks of Hall’s Pond or at its formal garden when I pursue local bird photography. Overcast sky provides the best condition for flower photography because it acts like a giant softbox that balances the light beautifully. Using a sturdy tripod is crucial for sharper photography because it eliminates the human element of camera shake as one of the many quality attributes for great photography. In addition the tripod enhances the compositional experience as it slows down the photographer. Camera and lens remain in place and allow us to experiment with various exposure settings like aperture settings that determine the Depth of Field. The right amount of Depth of Field isolates the flower against calming background thereby emphasizing the beauty of it. Raindrops always add lots of interest to a flower photography picture. A polarizing filter may come in handy to saturate colors and more importantly to eliminate unwanted glare from the wet petals and blossoms.

Apertures for the purple, white and purple over black iris flower photography pictures were set to f/4, f/8 and f/25 providing shutter speeds of 1/640, 1/40 and 4 seconds respectively at ISO100 each. During post processing I removed minor dust spots, minimally adjusted contrast, lighting and color saturation before sharpening the final images.

More Reading and Photo Tips you may enjoy:
 
Photo Tips for Better Spring Flower Photography Results
 
Favorite Flower and Gardening Quotes 

Painting with Light like Georgia O'Keeffe 

Springtime Quotes and Spring Entertainment