The Location: Death Valley
Making dynamic flower photos takes some imagination. Using angles is one way to make dynamic photos. On our travels one spring we got lucky. We were visiting family in Bakersfield and decided to make a short visit to Death Valley National Park. Fortunately, we made the arrangements three months in advance when we set the trip up. Thanks to the ensuing wet winter, we happened to hit one of the most prolific wildflower shows Death Valley had seen in years. People were coming in droves, and by March, when we arrived, NO rooms were available inside the park.
Along with a few hundred other people that spring, my husband and I went on a wildflower search. Since this was our first visit to Death Valley, we were doing roadside photography to get an overview of the Park. Walking the trails and visiting the museums came on later trips, when the wildflowers had turned back to seeds in the sand.
The Challenge: How to Create Angles which Make Dynamic Flower Photos
No flower shot is simple, but this one was especially challenging. These are tiny white flowers that grow close to the ground. We had been photographing the flowers spread across the valley in front of the hills when I spotted them. I wanted something different. I tried several ways to photograph them, but they were too tiny to stand out against the brown hills in the background.
The Accidental Photographer Tip:
I knew that making dynamic flower photos meant making angles happen out of these flowers. I needed to position myself low and close enough to create an angled line of flowers against the dark mountains and blue sky in the background. I set the camera for landscape shots, and laid down on a blanket I had spread in front of the flowers. Then I positioned myself so I could tip my camera up until the hills in the background were spread along the bottom of the frame and the flowers were positioned against the blue sky. Lines and angles create a sense of motion, and angled lines create the strongest sense of action. The angled line of flowers created the sense of action that I wanted. The color contrast of the white flowers against the brown and blue background enhanced the delicate flowers.
Making angles happen is one of the keys to strong nature photographs. When you are looking for strong nature shots, look for lines and angles. If you can’t find them, position yourself so you create them.
For simple tips to improve your photography on the go or on your travels with any camera or smart phone, check out my book, The Accidental Photographer for the Camera Bag.
For those of you interested in getting a more technical foundation, I recommend taking the courses at New York Institute of Photography. These are online correspondence courses with assignments reviewed by professional photographers.
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