Macro Photography Tutorial - Wood Anemone

 Wood Anemone (Anemone nemorosa)

Now that the rains have subsided, spring is well and truly here. OK the sun is out and it's not at all warm in some places, but there are some stunning photo opportunities everywhere you look in the English countryside.

At present in the local woodland there's a great crop of Wood Anemone (Anemone nemorosa). In the past I've recorded the wider view of the woodland but this time decided to create an extreme close-up/macro shot. This particular bloom was roughly 16 mm (5/8 th inch) across. There were larger blooms, but this one was the most accessible without moving from the path and causing damage to other plants.

In this frame you can see the direct sunlight is uneven with deep shadows and a distracting background. To get the shot I had previsualised I needed to diffuse the sunlight to soften the shadows, even out the background and add a fill light to lift the area in the bloom around the stamens. And to add another challenge, there was a light breeze which moved the bloom!

Here's how I did it:

1. Rosco 3002 soft frost diffusing the harse sunlight
2. Held on a Go Pro Photo Mini Scrim frame
3. Background Rosco matte black Photofoil
4. Wood Anemone bloom
5. Rosco 3809 RoscoScrim kicking light into the stamens
6. Canon 50D with EF 100 mm f2.8 macro, shooting aperture approx. f8, ISO 200, 1/125 th second
7. Plastic bag as ground sheet
8. Manfrotto 755MF3 with 460MG head. Centre column inverted and right angle finder fitted to camera viewfinder, otherwise I'd have been laying prone in the dirt. Lovely.

The camera was triggered with a Canon TC-80N3 timer remote. Inverting a tripod centre column is a great way to get close to the dirt, but is inherently unstable. It's best to use a special low-level support such as a bean bag to reduce vibration.

 Before & After

QUICK TIP: Don't attempt a shot like this when you're out for a walk with the Missus, partner, girlfriend or whoever. Unless they're a photographer they will not understand the time effort and fuss in getting just one shot!

Have great weekend, the weather is looking GOOOOOOD!

Ian