I always look forward to my Bearded Irises (Iris germanica) blooming each year. They are hearty little flowers, easy to take care of, they look nice and they make great photographic subjects.
This year, I wanted to try something a little different when photographing the irises. I wanted to isolate them individually and make them really pop.
Rather than cutting the flowers and bringing them into my studio, I elected to move the studio into the garden. For a black background, I placed a 2′ X 3′ piece of black foam core behind the blooms. An overcast sky was my only source of light. And I had my Nikon D80 camera with a Tamron 90mm f/2.8 macro lens sitting on top of an Induro tripod.
All of these images were shot at f/22 for the increased depth of field. I had my camera set for an ISO of 200, so my shutter speeds were on the slow side…around 1/25th to 1/50th of a second. So obviously, a tripod was a must.
Overall, I’m pretty satisfied with the outcome of my iris photos this year.