POTD: Poppies and Sunstar

California Poppies

California Poppies

Flowers photos are often taken from eye level (human eye level), but flowers usually look best when taken from the flower’s eye level. But some flowers, under the right conditions, look best when the camera is right on the ground and looking up.

For the photo above, the camera was on the ground and pointed up at the flowers, the blue sky, and the sun. I wanted the translucent petals against the blue sky plus a natural sunstar peeking around the edge of one of the flowers. Using a small aperture of f/16 or f/22 with a wide angle lens will give you a natural sunstar as the sunlight bends around the aperture blades inside the lens. The only catch is having the right kind of sky. Blue sky days aren’t rare, but the kind of super clear, blue sky day ideal for sunstar photos is rare. These kinds of days don’t come along often, so make the most of them.

The test is to hold your thumb up at arms length and hide the sun behind your thumb. If you can see deep blue sky right up to the edges of your thumb, you have the right kind of sky.  If the sky is bright and whitish around your thumb, it’s not clear enough to get a bold sunstar.

Exposure can be a challenge. You have two different subjects, the sky which you want to be blue and the backlit, translucent flower petals. It is easier to balance the two exposures if you have light toned flower petals. If the petals are too dark, by the time you choose an exposure to get enough sunlight through them to look nice, the blue sky is too light or washed out. With the aperture set to f/16 or f/22, meter the blue sky (without the sun) to get a starting exposure for the shutter speed. Then bracket exposures by varying the shutter speed by a stop or so on either side of your starting exposure in 1/2 or 1/3 stop increments.  Pick the best exposure that gives you a nice balance between the blue sky and the flower petals.

More information on flower photography and exposure is in my book, Digital Photography Exposure for Dummies.

Photo Data: Canon Elan IIe. Canon EF 15mm semi-fisheye lens. Aperture about f/16, Shutter about 1/30 second. Fujichrome Velvia slide film (ISO 50, rated at E.I. 40).