“Flowers” is competition theme for June 12

By Rex Dolby

The Camera Club’s next meeting will be Thursday, June 12, at 7 p.m. at the Wassenberg Art Center. “Flowers” will be the competition theme in prints and slides as well as makeup slide competition for the missed winter meeting. Any Wassenberg Art Center member may submit up to four prints and/or slides for one dollar. Bring your 4” x 6” prints to the meeting. Slides should be emailed to Chris Wilson by June 10 at the following address: vwcameraclub@gmail.com. Slides should be resized to 1024 pixels on the long side or no larger than 1one megabyte. They are to be in JPEG format and renamed giving: theme.slide title.your name.jpeg. Following the competition there will be a roundtable discussion on “Still Life Tips and Tricks”. The program is free and open to the public.

Although spring and summer provide many opportunities to shoot flowers, if you are looking for a particular flower to shoot, you might do well to invest in a field guide that will tell when and where these blooms will appear. A somewhat hazy day will provide the best exposure conditions because direct sun will bring harsh shadows as well as bright spots on the subject. If you’re forced to shoot under harsh lighting, bring a white sheet, net, or other translucent material that can reduce the light on the subject, or use a reflector that can direct light into the shaded areas so the flower looks more evenly illuminated. If possible, pick a day that has little wind to reduce the movement of the flower.

Select blooms with good color, shape, and free from blemishes. Try to select flowers that are somewhat isolated from other flowers, leaves and stems so they will stand out more from their distracting backgrounds. If there are distracting growths near by, try to bend them away rather than to break or pull them. This will aid in preserving the environment. Setting a wide lens opening will throw a background out of focus. If your intent is to show the greatest details, set the lens to its smallest opening to increase the depth of focus. In both cases a tripod will help to avoid camera shake.

Since most people view flowers from above, consider shooting at the flower’s level to create a memorable picture. This means dressing in old clothes, getting on the ground, and using your elbows as a camera support as you shoot. Getting as close to the blossom as possible will also add to a view people seldom see.  In order to achieve this goal, you’ll need to use a macro setting, a macro lens, or extension tubes, in order to reveal details that normally would go unnoticed. Using a spritz bottle to add the illusion of dew or rain on the petals gives another element of interest to the picture.

Google and You Tube are two good sources of information on shooting good flower pictures. They are available on smart phones, iPads, and computers. Now is a great time to try.

Wassenberg Camera Club meetings are open to anyone who has an interest in photography. If you have any questions regarding our camera club, classes or programs or would like to sign up please call the Wassenberg Art Center at: 419.238.6837, email: info@wassenbergartcenter.org or register for classes online at: wassenbergartcenter.org. Hours during exhibits are: Tuesday through Sunday 1–5 p.m. The Wassenberg Art Center is located at 214 South Washington Street in Van Wert.