Shooting in harder light

Shooting in Harder Light

For the third composition of the day, we'll be looking at shooting a plant portrait. It's later in the morning now, so the sun is much higher in the sky and the light is quite harsh - but you should work with these elements, not against them.

Choosing Your Plant

Before you even set up your camera, spend some time working out exactly which plant you want to photograph. Ideally you want it to be backlit, and in an area that's sheltered from the wind.

Settings

As I'll be going much tighter for this plant portrait, I am using a 105mm macro lens. The light is stronger now, so I can use a faster shutter speed. I want the background to be quite soft, so I will go for an aperture of around F/8, but I will also experiment with F/5.6 and F/3.5. When it comes to shooting, I'll be off the tripod, but it's handy to still set it up as you can clamp reflector cards to it.

Changing Lenses

Whenever you're changing lenses, always make sure to do so quite quickly to reduce the chances of any dirt or dust getting into the camera itself.

Shooting on Semi-Automatic

I have been operating the camera manually until this point, but now I want parts of it to work semi-automatically. I set my camera to auto ISO, with an aperture priority of F/8, and allow the shutter speed to compensate - dictating a minimum speed of 1/125 to avoid camera shake.

Using a Reflector

Your reflector card can be as simple as a piece of white card or foam, and it helps to fill in the shadows between the plants. Hold it in your hand and move it around to find the perfect position, and then use a plamp and your tripod to keep it in place. If you need something harder, you could use a reflector with a metallic finish instead.

Using a Diffuser

When the light is strong, you may find you need to use a diffuser as well as a reflector. The diffuser I use is purpose-built for photography, with a translucent scrim attached to a frame. Position it between the light source and your subject matter to soften the light, and get it as close to your subject as you can.