So you might have seen me in the gardens this year with a big white golf umbrella. It was the most anticipated tool in my garden arsenal this year. While at the Region 1 Pollendabbers meeting, from a suggestion by Heidi Douglas, I bought a few while at the meeting from Amazon. I had searched for white photography umbrellas before, but found the prices too much for my needs. Heidi suggested searching for "white wedding umbrellas" to see if a different mix of the same type of product would show up. Indeed it did! On Amazon, from my iPhone, I ordered three of them on the spot (one for my friend Nan Ripley in Iowa, too.)
Here I am using it during actual rain on the garden tour. It has many functions! It is fashionable (especially when choosing to wear a white cotton dress in the unexpected rain), supporting on slopes as a walking stick, and shades the blazing sun from the blooms during photo taking. The latter is why I originally wanted it. I wanted to test the theory myself that shading the blooms from direct sunlight produces good photos.
Here are two photos of the newly acquired H. 'Andy Candy.' This is one of the first daylilies I saw go for a huge sum of money in a small club auction. When it came out in 2003, it was a hot one. Sold out everywhere. Single fans selling for $100...I just never got my hands on it. Fast forward almost ten years, and I picked it up FINALLY for $10 at a club sale table. Three fans bought and planted last fall are seven fans now. It is a short thing, but very floriferous! It also rebloomed here in Illinois. BONUS.
So, I took a picture in the morning sunlight, just after the flowers had fully opened.
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the sun beats hot. down.
onto freshly opened blooms -
stretching to please us.
Nice photo, yes? I like the backlighting, and I love the golden glow of the base color. The eye and edge look saturated and velvety. The pollen is bright and obvious.
I could tell on my camera's LCD that the photo above looked a tad "hot" so I popped open the umbrella for a second shot, just minutes after taking the one above.
The verdict is still out on whether I like this shot with or without the umbrella.
You?
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5 comments:
Hi Nikki, Your white wedding umbrella is a very cool fashion statement in the garden. I must have one! Regarding these two particular photos, my personal preference is the first photo. However, they're both great photos. Thanks for sharing. :-)
I love early morning sun light on the daylilies.
The diffused light provided by the umbrella might be a benefit if photographing in the mid afternoon though.
It is simply gorgeous. Love lilies.
Hi Nikki! I have been meaning to give my 2 cents on the umbrella issue as I do have strong opinions here lol. I did go out and buy a white umbrella and experimented with it. My conclusion is that it works a lot better if you have a "sherpa" to hold it for you. (a la Heidi and Cary) I found that I needed both hands to hold my camera and therefore had to cradle the umbrella with my neck which was too close to the bloom and shut out too much light. Having a person hold it higher up is so much better. Then I tried attaching the umbrella to a long pole I could shove in the ground but that didn't work for me either as the weight of the umbrella made the pole move.
I am much happier with the polarizing filter I bought which screws onto the front of my lens so I can easily take it on and off. I bought the higher end one (about $100) made by Nikon (since all my lenses are nikkor). I did some research and found that there is a noticeable difference in quality with the price jump.
Nikki, I love your blog. I wish you had posted more examples. I've been using my white golfers umbrella for at least 3 years. I think colors more natural less washed out with the umbrella
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