30 | OHCC LIVING | AUGUST 2020 |
We are fortunate to live in a county where
nature is very colorful, giving photographers
plenty of opportunity to capture the vibrance of
flowers, butterflies, and birds. However, some
colors are trickier to capture than others. For
example, reds and oranges rendered digitally by
today's cameras and cellphones rarely appear
with the subtlety they do in real life. Take
the humble California Poppy. So photogenic,
isn't it, as it stands out from a background
of green vegetation on a bright sunny day?
Unfortunately, those brilliant orange petals
will lose most of their detail under a sunny
sky. What you need instead is some open shade
so that the highlights don't bleach out and the
delicate veins become visible. (See second
image.) To achieve this kind of light you can
easily put yourself between the sun and your
subject!
California daylight can be very harsh.
Photographing anything against a bright sky
can easily lead to a very dark subject. The
photo of Mike had shadows in all the wrong
places. The baseball cap didn't help either. But
a little fill flash remedied the situation.
Too many colors often lead to visual
confusion. In the photo of flowers at a farmer's
market, our eyes have difficulty picking
through the mass of detail. Emphasizing one
color and making it pop can be achieved when
the background is neutral, as you see in the
photo of a Tea Tree sprig. Having fewer colors
which complement each other can be visually
dramatic, as shown in the image of green lake
waters reflecting the hillside of yellow flowers.
There's no better time to experiment than
during this pandemic. Have fun! ~ Ann
Baldwin
Photography
Just in case: Check with your club contact to confirm meeting place, date, and time.
