Creative Garden Photography: Making Great Photos of Flowers, Gardens, Landscapes, and the Beautiful World Around Us

Make great photos of flowers, gardens, landscapes and the beautiful world around us! Gardens are everywhere, all around us. In this long-awaited guide to garden and flower photography, noted photographer and author Harold Davis tackles the subject of garden photography with an expansive brush. In this book, you’ll find techniques ranging from photographing vast formal gardens to photographing flowers for transparency on a light box. You’ll learn about closeup photography and how to become a better landscape photographer. Whether you’re photographing tiny flowers or grand landscapes, wandering outside in the garden or bringing the garden indoors, your photography will be enhanced using the many techniques in Creative Garden Photography. Garden photography includes a huge range of photographic styles and technical information that can be applied to almost any kind of photography. In this book, you will learn to use an incredible range of tools from one of the acknowledged modern masters of photography. • Explore gardens, types of gardens, and how best to photograph them • Learn about light, light direction and quality, and controlling light in your photography • Work with your camera and tripod to achieve optimal focus • Use creative exposures to make beautiful imagery • Photograph flowers on a light box for transparency • Learn techniques for creating impressionistic photos • Master close-up focusing, depth of field, and focus stacking • Explore complete exposure data and the story behind every photo “My goal as a photography teacher and writer about photography is to inspire and to help you become the best and most creative photographer and image-maker that you can be.” ―Harold Davis “Harold Davis’s ethereal floral arrangements have a purity and translucence that borders on the spiritual.” ―Popular Photography Magazine “Harold Davis is a force of nature―a man of astonishing eclectic skills and accomplishments.” ―Rangefinder Magazine “Harold Davis’s Creative Photography series is a great way to start a photography library.” ―PhotoFidelity TABLE OF CONTENTS What’s Not to Like about Gardens? ENTERING THE GARDEN Understanding Gardens André Le Nôtre and the French Garden Garden Styles The Backyard as Garden The Garden as Status The Importance of Garden Design PHOTOGRAPHING THE GARDEN AT LARGE Of Light and the Garden Intensity of Light Diffusion Light Direction Checklist: Finding the Right Position Understanding Reflectivity Color and White Balance Exposure and Light Key Takeaways about Exposure Special Times for Lighting Using a Tripod Creative Options with Tripods Anatomy of a Tripod Tripod Legs Tripod Heads Using the Tripod in the Garden Focus and Depth of Field Being in Focus Soft Focus Camera Position Tilt-Shift Lenses Focal Length Types of Lenses Focal Length and Depth of Focus Manual and Autofocus Depth of Field Aperture and Depth of Field Infinity and Hyperfocal Distance The Garden in Black & White Converting to Black & White Extending Dynamic Range Multi-RAW Processing High-Dynamic Range (HDR) Automated HDR Hand-HDR Impressionistic Photography In-Camera Motion Subject Motion Out of Focus Creative Exposures In-Camera Multiple Exposures Gardens of the Mind TAKING THE GARDEN CLOSE-UP AND INSIDE The Art of Transparency How Light Box Photography Works What Kind of Light Box Works Best? Arranging Flowers on a Light Box Light Box Photography Post-Production of High-Key HDR Images Inversions in Post-Production Understanding LAB Color Inverting a White Background to Black Brightening Images after Inversion Photography on Black The Flower as Diva Low-Key Photography in the Field and Studio Low-Key HDR Post-Production Macro Photography Macro Photography Gear Macro Lenses Extension Tubes and Bellows Close-Up Filters Focusing Rails Specialty Gear Extreme-Macro Lenses Macro Photography in the Garden Focus Stacking Focus Stacking in Photoshop Photographing Water Drops Approaching Water Drop Photography Reflections and Refractions Spider Web Studio Photographing Little Critters Getting Close Stopping Motion Focusing and Critters Auxiliary Lighting Modifying Light Macro Lighting Tools NOTES, RESOURCES & INDEX Where to Go for More Info Sensor Size Matters About EXIF Data Focal Length Cameras and Lenses List of Figures Locations of Gardens Photographed Botanical Glossary Photographic Glossary Index