| I’m getting back into artistic mode with the Four Corners FolkFest coming up Labor Day weekend. I spend most of the day for 3 to 3 ½ days shooting photos at and behind the stages on Reservoir Hill. A lot of your basic editorial stuff and crowd shots, but the fun stuff is in the close ups and backstage artist stuff.
For the more artistic photo, sometimes all you have to do is get a little closer or change the angle a little. Others ways might be to shoot a bunch of objects together usually found individually or, like in this photo, shoot a single shot of something normally found in bunches.
In this photo I got close, changed the viewing angle, and singled out just one of the sunflowers. Normally I don’t like to shoot into the sun, unless I’m using a lot of lighting to counter it or I’m trying to create one of those great silhouette shots. For this shot, though, I wanted the silhouette and for the sun to come through the petals on the flower so we could see the great details there.
When you shoot into the sun you’re going to get lens flare unless you use a hood or constantly move to block it. I like lens flare if you can position it right.
The magic for this particular shot involved me sitting in the ditch in front of my house in-between work and going to the high school soccer practice. I probably stared into the sun way too long to only get about 12 shots. I used f/10 for great depth and to close down some light because I was shooting into the sun, 1/800th because I was shooting into the sun, and ISO 200 because it cuts down all that light and gives me a cleaner image.
The next guy you see laying in the ditch just might be me trying to replicate the petal-shaped lens flare I got in this shot.
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