About the Wajdas

Photographing Herbs | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Scale and Perspective

There are a number of related issues in this broad category.

The most obvious one pertains to the distance the photographer is from the subject, either physically or with a telephoto or macro lens. Again, from experience, I have learned that taking a picture where I try to place the entire plant into the picture frame usually results in an uninteresting photograph.

This problem is particularly acute with larger plants. For instance, when I first photographed the 6-foot tall elecampagne in full bloom, I stood far enough back to include the whole plant in the frame--and everything else in the bed on either side of it! Since I did not include anything to provide a reference to the size of the plant, the resulting image became one of the bed since the specific focal plant was lost in amongst those around it. I missed both ideas I was trying to capture: that it is a large plant and that it has wonderful flowers.

When size is important, position something common next to the target to provide a frame of reference. This solution is also true for small plants. I have many good close-up pictures of our various thymes that illustrate colors and textures, but the average viewer would have no idea that the plants do not grow more than 5-6 inches tall. In this case, a broader perspective, perhaps of thyme growing around stepping stones, provides a perfect complement to the close-up images. For most of our herbs and everlastings, I take several pictures--a close-up photograph of the foliage and/or blossoms; a medium-range photograph of the overall plant to provide a sense of size, width, and other factors important in successful planting; and a wide-range or distance photograph that illustrates the plants in context with others in the beds.

My 135mm telephoto lens gives me considerable freedom in taking close-up pictures. I have only had a few instances where the bloom or leaves I wanted to photograph did not fill the frame to my satisfaction. When I am taking pictures, I usually care my second lens with me and change them frequently to achieve the right image for the right plant. If you just have a standard 50mm lens, you can take the lens off and reverse it, holding it tightly to the front of the camera (or purchase an adapter ring) (Richardson 1998b). The results are not exactly like those achieved using a telephoto or macro lens, but similar and inexpensive!

Depth of field and shutter speed are two areas I constantly struggle to master. In both cases, I understand the concepts, but frequently have difficulty with the application. Depth of field controls how much is in focus in front of and behind the subject. The most common means of controlling the depth of field is via the "f-stop" or aperature settings on the camera. We know these settings usually by the little moveable ring around the lens with numbers on it like 2.8, 4.0, 5.0 and so on, usually up to 22.0. The specific numbers refer to the size of the lens opening when the picture is actually taken. The smaller the number, the larger the opening; the larger the opening, the less that is in focus around the subject.

I really only change these settings when I want to target one plant or group of blossoms in the middle of many; changing the depth of focus allowed me to essentially shut out surrounding plants, stems, blossoms, etc., almost creating a "halo" around the target. I am much more familiar with shutter speeds, having taken many dark or blurry pictures at low shutter speeds. For most cameras, a "slow" shutter speed is anything less than 1/60^th of a second (e.g., 1/30^th, 1/8^th, etc.). Most of us can hold a standard camera still for 1/60^th of a second, allowing us to get a clear picture. Add on a telephoto lens of any length and expect to decrease that time to 1/125^th or 1/250^th of a second.

When photographing herbs, slower shutter speeds can allow you to capture great images with fantastic color saturation in low light. Since I am generally not worried about my targets moving while I am taking the picture, I find it most convenient to use a shutter speed of 1/125^th or 1/250^th of a second. My slides are crisp, clear and of good color. I do experiment occasionally, but for the majority of our applications, I use pretty standard settings. As a reminder, if you plan to take pictures at less than 1/60^th of a second, use a tripod or rest the camera body on something solid. Generally, blurry photographs end up the product of the photographer moving, not the subject! >>

Page 1 Photographing Herbs
Page 2 Color Composition
Page 3 Lighting
Page 4 Scale and Perspective
Page 5 Background and Natural Elements
Page 6 Camera Care and Film
Page 7 Conclusions and Works Cited