The Curriculum

• 1. Lighting for Flower and Plant Photography.

  Lighting is vitally important to all photography and in this lesson Clive explains how to use natural light to get the best out of your subjects. He starts by looking at the advantages of soft, diffused light, then moves on to bright sunlight, back lighting and side lighting. He also gives essential advice on controlling exposure for getting the best possible results in your work.

• 2. Composition for Flower and Plant Photography

  Flowers and plants offer a fascinating range of shapes and colours to photograph and in this lesson Clive talks about how to use them to make stunning images. He looks at single and repeated shapes, pattern and line, the use of positive and negative space and creating abstract images.

• 3. Working Indoors & Outdoors

  In this lesson, Clive explores the pleasures of working indoors, including the use of different coloured backgrounds. He explains how to create simple but effective still life images and how props such as vases and bottles can be used to enhance them. He goes on to look at working outdoors and the advantages of shooting at different times of the day and in a range of weather conditions.

• 4. Developing Vision & Technique

  Now that lighting, composition and different working conditions have been explored, Clive now examines different creative techniques to use in your flower and plant work. He discusses the importance of viewpoint, ways of using plant combinations and the striking effect of using complementary colours. He also looks at controlling depth of field, creatively using subject and camera movement and concludes with some useful post-processing techniques. Materials: Camera which allows user to control shutter speed, aperture and ideally has an exposure compensation button Macro and Zoom Lens If you don't have a Macro lens then take a look at the following blogs for alternatives Alternatives to the macro lens: Part 1 Alternatives to the macro lens: Part 2 Tripod Lens Hood for avoiding flare when shooting into the sun A white and a gold reflector Sheets of different coloured card A piece of black velvet for backgrounds.