Out of focus foregrounds are usually distracting and should be avoided with one caveat -- when the foreground is so out of focus that it becomes a haze of color, then it can work very nicely. I photographed this lovely tulip in Keukenhof Gardens in Holland, and in order to turn foreground flowers into a haze like this I used a 100-400mm lens set to 400mm and placed the camera just inches from the flowers closest to the camera. At the same time, I used aperture priority and chose the largest aperture on the lens -- f/4.5 in this case. Note that the lighting is diffused. This is the ideal for all floral photography. I hand held the shot.
4 Comments
Apr 14, 2016, 3:02:04 AM
Jim - Bob -- Yes, you could do that.
Carlton -- thanks very much for this information. There are tulip festivals in Holland, Michigan and also in the state of Washington. Regarding Vasoline on a skylight filter, yes, that would give you a very similar look.
Apr 14, 2016, 12:28:34 AM
Bob Vestal - Absolutely lovely image. What about using an extension tube with the 100-400mm lens. Would it still be possible to achieve a similar result but with the lens farther away from the flower?
Apr 13, 2016, 11:35:54 PM
Carlton McEachern - As a post script, the Canadian Tulip Festival takes place May 12 - 23/2016 in Ottawa. This is the 71st Your readers can find the info here: tulipfestival.ca
Apr 13, 2016, 11:29:36 PM
Carlton McEachern - Lovely. I can never find tulips that look so healthy and robust (lush). Maybe I wait too long after they bloom. You could almost do this with the old vaseline on the filter trick.