Garden Photography Primer - Part 1 - Get to Know Your Camera
By Donna Krischan
Text and pictures © 2007

Whether you have a simple point and shoot or a fancy SLR camera, you can improve your garden photographs with a little practice and a little knowledge. A good place to start is with the manual for your camera. It may be intimidating at first, but refer back to it frequently as you progress and you will find it more understandable and very valuable. Most 35mm cameras have a variety of shooting modes available. The most common are Automatic, Close-up, Portrait, Landscape, and Sports/Action. If you have an SLR camera, you also have a Manual mode.

When you want to fill your viewfinder with a flower, or even part of a flower, you want to use close-up mode. With some point and shoot cameras, this mode can only be used a certain distance from the subject. If you are not within the distance range specified in your manual, your photograph will not be in focus. With an SLR camera, you are restricted by the minimum focusing distance for the specific lens you are using. When I want to get that close, I use a special lens called a Macro lens. It allows me to focus when only inches away from my subject.

You would use Portrait mode to isolate a particular plant or flower. Think of a typical portrait of a person. Usually you want the area around the subject to be slightly blurred so that your subject stands out against the background. Again, be sure to pay attention to minimum focusing distances.

Landscape mode is used when you want to step back and get an overall view of the garden. In this mode, you should have relative sharpness throughout your photograph. Minimum focusing distances are usually not an issue when using Landscape mode.

The purpose of the Sports/Action Mode is to freeze action. Common action in the garden we may want to freeze is wind or "critter" activity such as insects or birds. If my subject is the plants themselves, I usually find it better to wait for the wind to subside or to return on a calmer day. An exception might be an attempt to create an impressionist type image by incorporating the movement. This is very difficult to accomplish but is quite stunning when it is done well.

Automatic mode is a compromise between the above settings. It is most similar to Landscape mode. Manual mode allows you to take total control over your camera settings - And that's a whole 'other article!

Once you choose the mode for your photograph, it is important to focus on the most important part of the subject. With flower close-ups or portraits, that is usually the center of the flower. Most cameras have their focus point in the middle of the viewfinder. If you always put your subject in the middle, your pictures become quite predictable and boring. Try the following technique. Make sure that you start with the center of your viewfinder on the most important part of your subject and partially depress the shutter button to engage auto focus. Then, keep the button partially depressed and reposition your camera so that your subject is off-center in the viewfinder. Next, fully depress the shutter button to take the picture. This technique takes some practice to get the feel of the button, but is well worth the time. You might even try practicing without film in your camera. If you have an SLR camera, you might find it easier to turn auto focus off. That way, you can compose your photograph with your subject off-center and use manual focus to make sure your subject is sharp.

Next time we'll talk about capturing what you see on film.

For more information on Donna Krischan the photographer please visit our Faculty Lounge or you can contact Donna through her web site at http://www.krischanphoto.com