Day 3 - Cacti!

Earlier this week, I resolved to spend twelve consecutive days discussing new, original work. So, I thought a little experiment would be in order. I decided to expand my horizons to cacti. Not as easy as I'd have liked for several reasons:

1) I love color. Cacti (or cactuses, whichever word you choose - both are correct) are not very pretty, in my opinion. After all, they aren't pink or blue. :)

2) It's harder for me to play with angles and shapes.

On the bright side:

1) They're very symmetrical, which I can appreciate.

2) They don't move, so there's less of a concern about camera shake (little flowers sway, even in a slight breeze)

My favorites:





The first one was great, because of the depth of field (ie strategic blurring), the fact that there is at least some color in the picture, and the overall angle.

The second one was a toss-up for me. I debated whether or not to crop it so I could center it, but I decided that I preferred this slightly off-center look. It's a symmetrical object depicted in a slightly "off" way.

The third one was interesting to me because I never would have guessed that this was a cactus. I also like the lighting effects in the bottom corner.

My tips for these:

1) Definitely play with the f-stop if you can. I used a higher one in the second picture to capture as much detail as I could.

2) Get as close as you can with these. Don't hesitate to crouch down (which I did). Make sure, though, your body and camera are as stable as possible if you're moving around.

3) Experiment with composition and framing. In other words, move the camera slightly to the right or the left. For the first two shots, it made a big difference.

As for me, I prefer flowers, but with some practice, I can take even better pictures of these plants. It just takes time, that's all.

Till tomorrow!