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Saturday, August 4, 2007

The Copper Vase Method of Nature Photography

I tend to do a lot of landscape and nature photography as these venues permit you to leisurely take your time while you determine the best angle and background settings for composing your shot.

The downside is when you are shooting wild flowers and sometimes interesting weeds, you first have to get low to the ground and then you do not always have the luxury of removing extraneous plants.



I decided that if I used a piece of copper pipe and stuck this in the ground then I would have a tall thin vase like structure that would permit me to place just a few flowers in the top opening. I could then move the pipe around until I had the best background to set the object against. A side benefit was now I was able to shoot standing up and made it easier to use the tripod.




This is the thistle shot in the pipe and below is the final image of thistle.

























These are a few more of the flowers that I placed in this copper vase.




























Niels Henriksen

5 comments:

Lynda Lehmann said...

Lovely shots, especially the thistle!

photokunstler said...

That's a great idea, Niels!

And if you have a bunch of copper pipes, you can create orgone too, a la Wilhelm Reich! We have an array in our yard, south of you. All I need to do is stick in some flowers - and I will try that tomorrow.

I was excited to see a fellow Ottawan on the Digital Photography School site!

Keep up the good work. I am not brave enough to shoot people in Ottawa, and missed many opportunities in the Market on Saturday.

Unknown said...

I would love to see some of your shots from the pipes.

If your on Facebook there is a group "addicted to photographers" that that get together for shootings in and around town.

I am always looking for unique photos of Ottawa for the "Ottawa Photographic Grid Project" if you have any that you might contribute.

Niels Henriksen

Anonymous said...

Hi great article. Some ideas worth considering for indoor macros.
Use small medicine or other bottles with damp sand to hold plants. A largish cardboard box say a3 size in which to place sheet of different coloured paper to act as background. this makes it easy to remove and replace with another photo or colours.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the idea with the sand and small bottle and the coloured background. Makes for an interesting small studio.

Niels

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