P#2: Show Notes for Flower Photography - Tony Sweet
Find out the 7 questions about flower photography Tony Sweet answers, see Tony's photographs, and find links to the resources mentioned in the interview
My special guest this week is master flower photographer Tony Sweet. Find out the questions he answered, a little about Tony's background, and get links to all the resources we discuss during the interview. You'll also be able to view all of Tony's photographs that he describes towards the end of the interview.
Show Notes for 7 Photography Questions Interview With Tony Sweet
Topic: Flower Photography
Host: Dr. Audri G. Lanford
Guest: Tony Sweet
Tony Sweet's Main Website: TonySweet.com
Locations: Great Smoky Mountains, TN & Boone, NC
This episode of the "7 Photography Questions" Podcast is sponsored by the Kodak Easy Share Gallery and by PhotoSharingNuggets.com.
7 Biggest Photography Questions for Tony Sweet
1. What is the single biggest mistake people make when they take pictures of flowers?
2. What do you look for when you choose flowers to photograph?
3. One subscriber writes she has a flower garden that's brilliant with color and texture. What would be the best time of day to photograph her garden in order to capture detail and clarity? And more generally, what is the best time (weatherwise and timewise) to photograph flowers?
4. Macro close-ups of flowers: can you give some tips on what to have in sharp focus, what to blur, and is there a way to extend the depth of field to include the entire bloom and still show minute details in the flower, but still have the background blurred?
5. What's the best way to select the background? Is it best to have the flower dominate the frame or do you include a background? How do you make sure the background does not overwhelm the flowers?
6. Can you share a couple of your secrets to taking such amazing flower photographs?
7. Would you suggest one or two exercises our listeners can do today to improve their flower photography?
About Tony Sweet
Tony Sweet is a true artist, and came to photography as a career after spending 20 years as a jazz performer. He recognized that the jazz elements inherent in his earlier work are reflected in nature photography. Tony quickly developed his process for nature photography and is now one of the most famous flower photographers working in the field. He is an acclaimed author on the Fine Art of Nature Photography. Tony's next book will be published in 2009. He has been honored as a Nikon Legend Behind the Lens and as a Lensbaby Guru.
"Tony has that rare ability to create photographs that transcend the medium. His images leap off the page and infiltrate our soul. And his writing makes us believe we can do the same." Kevin Adams, author of Our North Carolina.
You can find Tony Sweet on the web at:
http://www.tonysweet.com/
Or visit Tony Sweet's blog at:
http://web.mac.com/tonysweetphoto/tonysweet_blog/Blog/Blog.html
Resources Mentioned During the Podcast
Lensbabies - Selective Focus SLR camera lenses
Use this code to get a 10% discount: Sweet08
Photomatix HDR Software
Use this code to get a 15% discount: Sweet08
Kodak Gallery (20 free prints)
Photo Sharing Nuggets (free Special Report)
Books by Tony Sweet
Fine Art Photography: Water, Ice and Fog
Fine Art Nature Photography: Advanced Techniques and the Creative Process
Fine Art Flower Photography: Creative Techniques And The Art Of Observation
Tony Sweet's DVD Training
Tony Sweet's Online BetterPhoto.com Classes
Discount: email us at 7biggestphotographyquestions [at] gmail [dot] com to get a $20 off coupon code for your first class!
Creative Nature/Outdoor Photos with Lensbabies
Instructions for how to create multiple exposures in software
From "Photoshop CS3 for Nature Photographers" by Ellen Anon
Shoot a number of exposures, say 10, and have them all open on the desktop opened in Photoshop.
Pick one file as the main window to drag all of the files. Change the title from Background to Layer 1. Each successive image you drag into that window will be named subsequent numbers, i.e. Layer 2, Layer 3, etc.
After all of the files are in place, change the opacity of each layer to 1/layer number. Layer one is 100% (1/1) opacity, layer 2 is 50% (1/2), layer 3 is 33% (1/3), layer 4 is 25% (1/4), etc (100 divided by the layer number)
After changing the last opacity, the multiple effect will appear.
Photographs Discussed in This Interview
Click the photograph to enlarge
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