Do you need a macro lens when it comes to shooting wild flowers? Telephoto lenses are also very effective: they compress the scene and enable you to isolate the flowers between a beautifully blurred foreground and a bokeh background.
“You need to get down low to make the effect work, “If your tripod’s legs can’t get far enough apart, use a bean bag for support.”
To achieve the soft-focus effect on the stems, position the front of your lens close to foliage in the foreground and shot through that. “The yellow smudges and circles are blurred-out buttercups.
Wild flowers that grow in meadows are particularly effective for this type of set-up, although you’ll need to hunt around for the perfect specimen.
“Don’t settle on the first thing you see,Look for perfectly formed flowers, as well as good background and foreground matter.”
“Shoot early in the morning or later on in the evening with a slight backlighting for best results..
“Not only is the light softer at these times, but more importantly it’s less breezy!”
get dirty
Using a bean bag to cradle a long lens on the ground is a great way to get the low angle you need. Cameras that offer a fold-out rear screen or a Live View feed to a phone app enable you to compose shots easily from this awkward position.
boost the blur
Set the widest aperture on your lens and make sure there’s plenty of distance between the subject and the background. If there’s little foreground detail, try holding some grass close to the front element.
