Experiment!

I've had a few friends tell me how much they enjoy looking at my photos and how they're "like a breath of fresh air".  I want to let you in on a few secrets.  Below is a shot of my front yard.  This spring, I dug up the lawn and planted bulbs and sprinkled a box of mixed seed from the dollar store.  I had no idea what was a weed or what was a flower and it got to be a jumbled mess.  A similar thing happened in the back yard.  The flowers are starting to look pretty and the weeds are slowly being identified and pulled as they were starting to get out of control.  Here's just a random shot:  While it looks OK, the Bachelor Buttons still look kinda weedy and not terribly spectacular.

The trick I discovered is to get up close and personal.  Anybody with a camera can achieve this shot.  I have an inexpensive Point and Shoot Kodak camera.  I dream of something better, but for now, this is it.  I use the setting on the camera that looks like a flower--it's for getting close-up shots.  Let it focus in and then snap a picture.  Try different angles, shooting from different heights, different lighting.  I've just been experimenting and seeing what results I get.  Some I like.  Many I don't.  Lot's are out of focus.

Here are those same Bachelor Buttons.  When I use the "Flower" setting, it not only focuses well on the flower, but it also makes the background blur.

I have no idea what these little flowers are, but I have a lot of them and their kinda pretty.  Delicate. Colorful.

Here's a shot with the morning sun facing me.  I wanted to see what the light coming at me would do for the picture.  I was always taught growing up, that the sun should be behind you.  Sometimes that works.  Sometimes it doesn't.  I like how the lighting changes the colors of the petals. And, oh, wow, I just realized that I created "Bokeh" without meaning to!  That's the little orbs of blurred background in the upper right side.

I have no idea what flower this is.  It might have been an unidentified bulb that I planted or from that mixed flower packet.  LOVE the depths of pinks here and the leading dark lines into the center of the flower.  Did you know that flowers have those in order to lead bees into the center to achieve pollination?  Yes, I learned that from my daughter's pre-school science book.  Interesting, heh?  God is so good in designing even a detail like that.

So, next time you're shooting pics outside, try the macro-setting on your camera and see what happens.  Experiment!