Great tip Doug! I've learned that I get better pictures when it's overcast or cloudy .... most of my photo's have a lot of glare from the bright sun. Lately I'm trying to go out early in the morning before the sun is so intense, or late afternoon, early evening after the sun is lower in the sky.

Lovely garden shot Neil!

Dear postmandug, a good tip for all and use a UV filter on your camera! Also if your camera has it turn the ISO speed down on a sunny day and it stops the glare.
Linda thank you for your comment. Here is a picture I took the other day of a blue passion flower Passiflora caerulea. This was taken in sunlight but with me fiddling with the settings!
Regards.
Neil.

**looks at Neil's passiflora photo, tosses all her cameras into dustbin**

Excellent work, Neil!

Neil: That is a great shot of the beautiful Passiflora! The colors are so vivid ... really nice!

I am technically challenged when it comes to cameras (and computers) and I'm a real amateur at photography. I have no idea how to set or change the settings on my camera. I'm always hitting a button and messing up the settings and having to get my husband to fix it for me! I don't know if my camera even has a UV filter (or is that something you purchase extra?) I will have to ask my husband if my camera has an ISO setting, LOL.

Dear Linda, I am but an amateur but I enjoy it and that it was matters. A UV filter is an ultra violet light filter and you buy them separately. They are cheap, protect the lens and stop that annoying glare that you get!
If your camera is set to automatic it should set things itself, but sometimes it does not work so you have to set the ISO if your camera can allow you to do that!
Don't worry I have to ask my nephew to set the satellite record timer to watch a program on the TV, and he is 9 years old!
Here is Michaelmas daisy as it is Michaelmas day on the 29th of September and they always flower for that! Taking purple and yellow together in sunlight is a nightmare on such a small flower.
Regards from a cold England.
Neil.

Very good advice. If blessed with an excessively sunny climate (LOL) wait until dusk or daybreak to take the best shots.

Neil all three of your photos here are stunning. I really love the close ups, it is amazing to see the detail that is not noticed with out the camera close up.

Dear Lynn, nearly every gardener has an eye for colour and that even shows in their cooking. I am an amateur that loves plants and to take pictures of them to share with other people who like plants. I simply look at the plant first for its beauty, then select a bit and take a photo of that bit! All plants are beautiful in there own right, whatever they are.
Don't snap a lot of pictures before you look at the plant, decide what you think is right and then do it, you will not go wrong.
Here is a simple petunia that most people have come across. But now look at what a simple annual has to offer if you look at it.
Our eyes can see what a camera can see if we look!
Regards,
Neil.

The up close camera shots help me see things I can't normally see. I think that is why I am so intrigued with the close up photos. : )

GREAT tip and BEAUTIFUL photo!

Great tip postmandug and Neil your photos are brilliant as usual. One problem I have is photographing certain "purple" Iris. Purple is in quotes because it is such an inadequate description. Unless I photograph the bloom in direct sun I usually find the bloom is too blue. Any ideas? I've found a polarizing filter creates other problems with close-up or macro shots.

Dear Evan, yes i agree purple can be diffcult but do you use a lens hood on your camera? There are lots of different ones and a tulip one usually works well with difficult things. The camera manufacturers ones are normally expensive, but on the internet there are lots of them for different cameras and lenses. There are also different hoods for different things like wide angle etc.
Regards.
Neil.

Thanks for the input Neil. You gave me a palm to forehead moment. I have an adapter, on which I've blacked out the interior, which should connect with my old hood. A hood which I haven't used since I bought a digital camera. I'll give it a try.

Dear Evan, I find polarizing filters a nuisance unless it is with water and then they come into there own!
Regards.
Neil.