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Photographing
Plants and Flowers
Book Review
by Trevor Edwards
10 October 2002
 As
a plant lover I have for many years taken photographs
of trees & shrubs and indeed gardens in
general. Many of photos I would rank as 2nd
rate, however they act as an image provoking
aid to the "minds eye". Some of the
shots have turned out to be stunning 聳
probable by accident!
For this reason I welcomed the prospect of reviewing
this stimulating hardback book. I was not disappointed
聳 the cover picture alone is enough to
inspire enthusiasm into the owner of any semi-respectable
camera, to dust it down and have a go!
As the owner of a 2year old Pentax MZ-5N with
a 28-80 lens, I will certainly benefit from
reading this gold mine of information.
Paul
Hardcourt Davies seems to take away the guesswork.
He impressively combines an emphasis on the
technology of photography with a great sensitivity
for the plant life he seeks to capture.
It would have been so easy for him to lose sight
of the joy of plants while covering such topics
as film qualities, flash lighting, settings,
exposure, coloured backgrounds and monochrome
images to name but a few. Please do not be too
put off by the technical terms, the book is
set out in a systematic way that guides the
keen untrained amateur (like me) to greatly
improve our skills.
The book contains everything you need to know
to get that perfect shot, including rendering
blues, choosing the correct filter and coping
with the extreme weather conditions.
The author provides guidance on the shooting
of vast landscapes to individual plant portraits,
to close-up and macro shots. 聳 I must invest
in a Macro lens!
For
those people fortunate enough to have grasped
hold of the technology of Digital photography,
there is a chapter dedicated to Image Manipulation.
The 10 pages covering scanning and printing,
PhotoShop basics, monochrome and white backgrounds,
filters and colour manipulation will be of amazing
help.
Whilst
the images throughout the book come from some
impressive locations like Italy, Greece, Germany
and even California and although there are sections
that deal with photographing in Alpine regions,
deserts and cloud forests, it is surprising
how few images come from the most obvious of
all places 聳 the Garden.
This
is a unique and exceptional book for those of
us who not only enjoy gardening but those of
us who attempt to record the special moments
for posterity through a camera lens. It is a
book that I can see myself referring to from
time to time from this day on. I feel confident
that my skills will be enhanced 聳 thanks
to Paul Harcourt Davies and his publishers 聳
thank you all!
Book: Photographing Plants and Flowers
Author: Paul Harcourt Davies
Publisher: Collins & Brown
Price: 拢19.99
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