Here's an example of a daylily bloom shot with a 300mm telephoto lens, enabling me to achieve a dramatic dark background.

John takes great photos!

Thanks for sharing your tips here.

I'll be headed for a photography trip to Hudson Valley before long. Dennis has a new camera and has been out and about doing fall scenes. I'll take my Rebel.

Thanks John for the tip on using the telephoto setting on a point and shoot.
I will try that. Oh, and your photo with the dark background is wonderful.

I can't see a flower's true color in the noon day sun with my own eyes much less
capturing it with a camera. So, I take pics early morning or around 5pm. Taking
pics when the sky is overcast is my favorite time.

I am a firm believer in using a tripod when I'm taking photos of flowers. I usually enlarge my photos and if the camera shakes the least bit, it will blurr like crazy. I shake!!! So, to get a clear photo, I have to use one. I bought one 6 years ago at Sears for $20. I looked at Walmart this summer for a new one and they range from $25 to $75. You will be amazed at the difference in the quality of your photos using a tripod.

This is my best hint and I hope you can try it. Blessings, Mona

Thanks every one for posting. John what did you use to get the all blk background?

I received a nice tripod for my birthday in Sept. I sure hope it helps!

Oooh, I want the flower, LOL.

jqfalcon3 said:Here's an example of a daylily bloom shot with a 300mm telephoto lens, enabling me to achieve a dramatic dark background.

• Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Thorhall the Hunter')
• Uploaded by jqfalcon3

John: Did you use manual focus versus auto?

I think it should be mentioned that using umbrellas, tripods, or tying foliage back are great tips for your own garden.

However, when visiting someone else's daylily garden, it is best to ask the owner before bringing anything in the garden other than yourself and a hand held camera. I've seen umbrellas break scapes, purses knock buds off, children pick pods -

That is one reason I like to use a telephoto lens when visiting a garden. you can zoom in and get a daylily "mug shot" from feet away, without leaning over scapes, or stepping in beds. I can take photos several rows into a good friend's seeding bed this way, and I don't take any chances on damaging any plants in any way.

Thanks so much, John for the info! I've seen your dramatic images before! Great work!!!

Teresa...to get a dark background I simply move around, looking for a background that will contrast with the flower I'm shooting. Since we have quite a few trees and shrubs, it's usually pretty easy to accomplish that. Here's another example, a photo of TANGERINE IBIS.

Juli.....I almost always use auto focus. Occasionally when shooting macro photos I'll revert to manual focus. The telephoto lens, as you indicate, allows you to stay out of beds.

Do you have a website somewhere? I would love to look at more of your work? You are very talented.

Here are his websites (he posted them earlier):

http://www.brooksgards.com/

http://johnsphotogalleries.com...

Great photos and great advice!

I usually don't look at photos that much(only daylilies of course), but, these are beautiful!!!! So, if you have time, enjoy them.

Ditchlily said:I just meant that they do not fit on the point and shoot cameras (that I have seen anyway).

Just to be contrary, I have had THREE different point&shoot digicams that supported filters/teleconverters, etc. However, none of them would fit in my pocket. It's not whether it's a P&S, it's whether it's a compact. There's a "prosumer" camera that bridges the gap between compact P&S and full-blown dSLRs. I've been buying prosumers since my first digicam in 2002.


This quick video explains what a prosumer camera is: http://www.ehow.com/video_2374...

And here's an example of a prosumer model -- this is a Panasonic, my preferred camera brand, and is the current version of my slightly older Panasonic prosumer model.

http://shop.panasonic.com/shop...

If you look through the photos at the link, the last photo shows a lens added onto the existing camera lens. What I like about the prosumers is they can run fully automatic OR fully manual, and are way less expensive than dSLRs, and have less to lug around. I don't have to worry about switching lenses to get the perfect shot.

I have a compact P&S for convenience, but my "big" camera is my go-to camera for important things.

daylily said:However, when visiting someone else's daylily garden, it is best to ask the owner before bringing anything in the garden other than yourself and a hand held camera. I've seen umbrellas break scapes, purses knock buds off, children pick pods -

That is one reason I like to use a telephoto lens when visiting a garden. you can zoom in and get a daylily "mug shot" from feet away, without leaning over scapes, or stepping in beds. I can take photos several rows into a good friend's seeding bed this way, and I don't take any chances on damaging any plants in any way.

This is one reason I really like monopods. Tripods are great, but clunky. A monopod is just one single leg with a camera mount on top, Here's a link to an Amazon search on them, so you can see what I mean. It will give you the stability you need for long zooms without being intrusive.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb...

Thank for the correction. I knew that just because I had not seen any, that did not mean there were none. Glad to know that I am wrong.

Ditchlily said:Thank for the correction. I knew that just because I had not seen any, that did not mean there were none. Glad to know that I am wrong.

I'm wrong more often than I'm right, usually... prosumer models are one of my soapboxes -- didn't mean to smack you with it

You didn't. No worries.. All I meant was that just because I had never seen any did not mean that they did not exist. That's why I specifically said "that I have seen".