IMPRESSIONISTIC PHOTOS

An easy way to get your flower photos to look like a painting:
1. Put your camera on Aperture Priority and set your lens to its lowest f-stop number. In this case, a 50mm f1.4 lens works best, but use whatever you have.
2. If you are using digital, set your camera’s saturation level to high, and white balance to Shade setting. If you are using a film camera, place a warming filter or orange gel in front of the lens. Use a very saturated slide film like Fuji Velvia or Kodak VS.
2. Hand-hold this photo, no tripods needed.
3. Place your lens on manual focus, and focus above the flowers, somewhere between the tops of the flowers and your camera.
4. Try a few different photos with different levels of de-focus, and choose the best one. I have found that overcast days work best for this technique. Have fun!

Thanks to professional photographer Mark Hemmings (www.markhemmings.com) for writing this photo tip.