Orchids

I woke up early this morning intending to go to the Botanical Gardens to take some pictures (something that I have not done in quite a while). Alas, a shower of rain made me change my mind. Thankfully, the sun decided to make an appearance a short while later…

Not knowing whether if the weather would hold or not, I decided to take some pictures in the comfort of my own backyard instead!

These orchids have been blooming for more than a week already. I converted the backyard into a makeshift outdoor studio of sorts to take this picture. The pot of orchids were placed on an old table and was lit from the back by the brilliant sunlight. Black cardboard was placed at the rear to give a clean, black background. The camera was then mounted on a tripod and a cable shutter release was used to minimise camera shake (which can be considerably magnified at macro distances). A silver reflector was then placed beneath the flowers to provide a gentle fill-in, bringing out the fine patterns and details in the petals. The picture was taken sitting down literally!

Exposure information: Camera – Canon EOS 300D Digital, Lens – Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Super Macro APO II, Exposure Program – Manual, Shutter speed – 1/30 sec, Aperture – f/20.0, ISO rating – 200, Metering Mode – Center Weighted Average, Flash – did not fire, Focal Length – 190.0mm