My approach to photographing botanicals

I've enjoyed photographing plants and flowers for as long as I can remember. I was delighted to use the little automatic "macro" function on my first digital camera and never looked back...and when it came time for my first DSLR, the first lens I bought outside my kit lens was a macro lens. I love love love flowers and plants and adore cherishing all of the details that so often get overlooked.

But...I don't stop there.

Whenever I head out to a park or garden for some macro photography (also known to me as... therapy), I always bring a second lens with me to capture a different perspective. In my bag is either my Helios 44-2 or my Lensbaby Burnside. The reason is that these lenses allow me to stretch my creativity further, and allow me to step outside the box I've built around myself. Both lenses offer amazing color and soft, unique bokeh. They are manual lenses and that feature allows me to play around with the settings and get creative with exposure.

Recently, I took a day to go to a small, local garden and I packed my Canon 100mm/f2.8L macro and my Lensbaby Burnside 35mm. When I arrived at the park, I was admittedly disappointed...not much in bloom, and there was plenty of green everything. Halfway through, I decided that my macro lens just wasn't cutting it for me, so I switched.

Using the Lensbaby Burnside, I played around with the late-morning light and my perspective, capturing the trees from bottom up. The colors were rich, the sunlight warm, and the swirly bokeh...well, it's everything. Despite it being summer, this lens allowed me to capture more moody and dark shots of nature. Take a look!