Natural Inspiration
Daffodils in Lewisville, North Carolina.
Flower Photography
While I was preparing the photos for this post, I was reminded of a flower photography book on my bookshelf that I eagerly purchased over a year ago but still have not gotten around to reading and enjoying. The book is Botanical Dreaming: Using Photoshop, your camera, and your heart to create inspiring images, by Mark S. Johnson.
The title of the book truly reflects the feeling you get from viewing Mark’s flower photos — they’re dreamy and ethereal. His photos are simply exquisite — far beyond any flower photos I’ve ever produced. I do hope to make time at some point to delve into Mark’s advice and tips for shooting flowers in a fresh, new way.
For more info on Mark’s work and to see more of my recent flower photos, please continue to the NEXT SECTION.
Photo #2
More daffodils in Lewisville, North Carolina.
Photoshop Workbench
I initially became acquainted with Mark Johnson through his free weekly iTunes podcast, Photoshop Workbench, that’s now available only on Mark’s website, Mark S. Johnson Photography.
The way Mark teaches in the Photoshop Workbench videos is through accepting photos that folks upload to him and then using them to show how the photos can be improved, through the demonstration of Photoshop tools and techniques. Mark is such a humble and light-hearted guy that you can’t help but like him, and he makes learning the intricacies of Photoshop easy and fun.
Besides Mark’s excellent knowledge of Photoshop, I particularly like his poetic soul. He expresses himself very well in writing, though I hadn’t realized that until I got his Botanical Dreaming book. While his photos in the book are truly breathtaking, I find that what Mark writes about being a photographer and expressing oneself through photography is just as inspiring as his beautiful photos.
Photo #3
Even more daffodils in Lewisville, North Carolina.
Today’s Photos
I shot the daffodils for today’s post last week before the rain set in. They’re in my back yard in Lewisville, at the top of a bank that leads down to a “wet weather” creek. Recently, every time I looked out a back window, they caught my eye, and I kept thinking about how I’d shoot them. Finally, one afternoon, I ended up photographing them using my 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. I shot from below the flowers so I could get only sky in the background.
I could have picked a macro lens, but I wanted to see what I could get using the 70-200mm lens. I also decided I didn’t want all of the flowers to be in sharp focus, so I experimented with varying aperture settings. (And I suspect that somewhere in the back of my mind I may have been at least partially influenced by Mark Johnson’s flower photos.)
Do any of the flower shots in today’s post appeal to you? Or do you prefer a more realistic approach? Feel free to leave a brief comment below. I’d love to hear from you!
Inspiring Words
Be sure to visit Mark Johnson’s website, where you can check out the Photoshop Workbench videos and his books and workshop info. By the way, Mark personally signed my copy of Botanical Dreaming with the added sentiment: “May inspiration carry you away!”
MORE TO COME! Check out the follow-up article and photos, titled Floral Patterns.
The effects on these flowers are awesome. I really like them as they are very surreal looking. Very artistic and dreamy.
I would love to convert some of my flower pictures like this. I only have Photoshop Elements, but maybe that would be enough to achieve this effect. To me these are much better than just plain photos and add a lot of interest to an otherwise ordinary image.
Great work. Keep it up.
Hello, ForestWander Nature Photography! Thank you so much for your encouraging words about the flower photos. I always wonder whether most folks are turned off by the notable amount of manipulation I tend to apply to my photos. It’s nice to hear from a few who like the alterations! I think even if you only have Photoshop Elements that you can achieve similar effects.