These flower photographs were taken at the Como Park Conservatory in Minneapolis, MN by our DPA Instructor Tony Schreck.

Remember that all DPA instructors and classes will teach these photo techniques whether you own a Panasonic or any other kind of camera.

Tip #1 Use the sun to side light or back light to make the vegetation seem to glow:

This image was shot with a panasonic Lumix L1at 1/125 s – f/1, with the Lumix-Leica 14-50mm lens at 50mm. I shot in manual mode to compensate my exposure to make the water look black. I also had the meter in center-weighted mode so I could meter off the lilly pad then the water, adjust my exposure and recompose. I wanted to emphasize the red veins on the lip, so I placed it running diagonally through the frame to give it emphasis. The lip is also backlit to make it glow giving it additional prominence. (Remember that all DPA instructors and classes will teach these photo techniques whether you own a Panasonic or any other kind of camera.)Tip #2 Use a low angle to to make the most of reflective surfaces such as water: 

In this Image I set the Lumix L1 to manual with center-weighted metering and exposed at 1/60 s – f/11. Lens: Lumix-Leica 14-50mm set to 50mm. (Remember that all DPA instructors and classes will teach these photo techniques whether you own a Panasonic or any other kind of camera.)

 

Tip #3 Zoom in. Use your lens in telephoto to shorten depth of field and to compress distant objects:

Lumix L1 1/60s at f/11. Lumix-Leica 14-50mm set to 50mm close to flower. (Remember that all DPA instructors and classes will teach these photo techniques whether you own a Panasonic or any other kind of camera.)

Tip #4 use a wide aperture (f/3.5 here) to isolate the object you want primary emphasis on:

Lumix L1 1/500th of a second at f/3.5 with the lumix/Leica 14-50mm set at 50mm. At 3.5 the focus (or depth of field) is isolated on the one blossom. (Remember that all DPA instructors and classes will teach these photo techniques whether you own a Panasonic or any other kind of camera.)

Tip #5 Set your exposure to make the water go a deep black to make the flowers pop:

I metered the water in center weighted mode, and adjusted my exposure to make the water darker with the camera set to manual. Lumix L1 1/160th of a second at f/10. Lumix-Leica 14-50mm set to 50mm. Sun was side lighting the flower. I popped the flower with the flash  to make it stand out from the dark water. (Remember that all DPA instructors and classes will teach these photo techniques whether you own a Panasonic or any other kind of camera.)

Tip #6 Use fill flash to make the flower stand out even when the sun is out-use the sun as fill:

Same metering as above to make the water darker.Lumix L1 1/160th of a second at f/10. Lumix-Leica 14-50mm set to 50mm. Sun was side lighting the flower. I popped the flower with the flash  to make it stand out from the dark water.  (Remember that all DPA instructors and classes will teach these photo techniques whether you own a Panasonic or any other kind of camera.)

Tip # 7 Use a reflector. Here I used a gold reflector to bounce light from my on camera flash in bounce mode, aiming the reflector to light inside the flower:

Lumix L1 1/125th of a second at f/6.3. Lumix-Leica 14-50mm set to 36mm. Lilly is popped with flash bouncing off a soft gold mini reflector disc to match the soft setting sun. I adjusted the placement of the reflector until it lit the inside of the blossom. (Remember that all DPA instructors and classes will teach these photo techniques whether you own a Panasonic or any other kind of camera.)

All images © Anthony Brett Schreck and made with the Panasonic Lumix L1