Tips from a Pro

Flowers are one of the most photographed subjects on the planet, which makes taking a compelling photo of them that much more difficult. Experienced pro, Harold Davis shared a few strategies with us about getting the best out of your floral photos. For more, you can check out his book, Photographing Flowers: Exploring Macro Worlds With Harold Davis from Focal Press.

We photographers go to great lengths to minimize flare, a burst of detail-erasing light that can spill into the lens. We buy specially coated glass, mount lens shades, and invest in all kinds of studio modifiers and flags that prevent unwelcome light from pouring back into our cameras and wiping out all the potential sharpness and contrast in an image.Unless, of course, we do the exact opposite.Take this photo by Nathan Schroder, a professional fashion and advertising photographer. He went out of his way to maximize flare for this portfolio shot.

Superwide-angle lenses practically force you to create wacky images, simply by letting you cram so many elements into the picture. It can be a blast to use them to distort perspective. But there are times when superwides are absolutely the right tool for the job. London-based photographer Richard Bradbury turned immediately to his Canon EF 17–40mm f/4L when the Guinness Book of World Records called on him to depict both the world’s largest dog, Gibson the Great Dane, and the world’s smallest, Boo Boo the Chihuahua, in the same frame.