The following article is reprinted from the January 2009 Plugged In column of Society of American Florists' (SAF) Floral Management Magazine. SAF's Floral Management is distributed to more than 11,000 SAF members and is the floral industry's premier floral business practices publication.
Florists are visual people and very specific ones at that. Roses aren't just light pink, they're "bubble gum." Weddings aren't just naturally romantic, they're "'Midsummer's Night Dream' meets Mother Nature." That same level of visual specificity should also come through in your photos.
Digital photographs can be used as confirmations for senders and recipients, references for your designers, marketing images on your Web site and in printed marketing materials. But only use one that is a decent shot, not some white- washed, pixel-ated and blurred snap from a camera phone that doesn't do your usual high standards justice.
This month, sensing that maybe a few of you received cameras for Christmas or scored some year-end sales, we offer a primer on how to pro- duce professional-looking digital photo- graphs without breaking the bank.
Light Right
Proper lighting is critical to great photographs. Shots taken from a top-of-the-line, digital single lens reflex (DSLR) camera won't be much better than a those from a $100 pocket camera if the lighting isn't good. Don't count on the built-in flash; photos that are lit from the camera flash tend to make everything look flat. To get a sense of depth, you need light to come from various angles. Fortunately, you don't need to build a pro- fessionally lit studio to get these results.
Your best bet is to shoot product using an inexpensive light tent or cube. Check out www.ezcube.com or www. cubelite.com for two excellent options. You can purchase the EZCube on its own without lights for between $100 to $200 depending on size - the Cubelite sells its tents with lights for a much higher price. Or, build your own light cube with PVC piping or an old cardboard box following easy do-it-yourself tips at tinyurl.com/ye6slu and tinyurl.com/7hbk6.
The cheapest form of lighting, of course, is natural sunlight. Seize any sunny-day opportunity to take the cube outside to shoot arrangements. On
cloudy days, compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs can be a floral photographer's best option. Online, search for "30W 5000k CFL bulbs" and purchase two or three, then visit your local hardware store for flood lamp stands. Check out the following setup: tinyurl.com/5vkwun.
Pay to Click
Although it's tempting to go with a pocket digital camera for about $200, these lack what you'll need often: larger lenses that provide greater depth of field when shooting close up. Go with "pro-sumer" level cameras such as a Canon G10, Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H50 or Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 that range from $350 to $500.
However, if you plan on taking a wide variety of shots of different types and sizes of arrangements, consider an entry-level DSLR, such as the Canon EOS Rebel XSi or XS, Nikon's D80 or D60 or a Pentax K200D for the simple fact you can change lenses. Expect to pay in the range of $600 to $900 for the camera alone - most already include a zoom lens - and more for extra lenses.
Most, if not all, of these options provide more than 7 megapixels, more than sufficient for the Web and printed materials.
Essential Accessories
The most important purchase for your camera is an additional memory card. Unfortunately, camera manufacturers include the lowest capacity and slowest cards with the camera. Take the card that came with the camera to your local electronics or photo store as reference and ask for an equivalent 2GB Lexar Professional memory card. Depending on the type - SD, CompactFlash, etc. - it will cost between $20 to $40. This card gets you at least 300 shots before you need to download the photos and provides less wait between shots as the camera writes the images to it.
While at the store, grab the following two items: a tripod ($20 or less) and USB 2.0 reader ($15).
You don't need the best, but you need a tripod to take sharp images when shooting up close. Any slight movement will blur the shot and you won't be able to take advantage of longer capture settings.
You won't want to take the camera off the tripod just to download the shots off the card or halt shooting to add an extra memory card - that's where the USB 2.0 reader comes in handy. Plus, they tend to download faster than connecting directly with the camera. Again, use the card you brought with you as reference for the card reader type.
Don't just take my word for it. Before purchasing any camera, read its review at www.dpreview.com or www.cnet.com.
SIDE: Scatter Shots Solved
The great thing about digital photography is the ability to take an unlimited number of shots.The bad thing about organizing those images: the ability to take an unlimited number of shots. Fortunately, two great pieces of software can help you manage your photo library. Visit picasa.google.com to download the free Picasa software if you use a PC; Mac users, use the free iPhoto software.
The software already groups shots by date, I'd suggest tagging photos by event, flower type, color, etc. By adding add four to five words ("wedding, callas, green, Fairfax Country Club.") you increase your access points the next time you do a search with any of those keywords. -R.S.
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Plus, they tend to download faster than connecting directly with the camera. Again, use the card you brought with you as reference for the card reader type.
The great thing about digital photography is the ability to take an unlimited number of shots.The bad thing about organizing those images: the ability to take an unlimited number of shots. Fortunately, two great pieces of software can help you manage your photo library. Visit picasa.google.com to download the free Picasa software if you use a PC; Mac users, use the free iPhoto software.
very interesting article! I will follow your themes.
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