White on white – Flora photography

Flora photography is usually all about color, but there is something really special about the “white on white” color combination and when we see this kind of images in the student’s gallery of our of our PHOTOGRAPHING FLORA class – they are always our favorites. White flowers on white background images just feel so nice, airy and soft even ethereal we could say and yet so eye catching and powerful.

But this color combination is an exposure challenge too. Too much white will always fool the light meter in your camera and final results will usually turn out underexposed and greyish. The reason is that the meter is designed to read the light from middle (grey) tones which means your camera will give you a combination of aperture and shutter speed that leads to slightly underexposed final images and obviously that is not what we want.

The easiest way to handle this situation is to use exposure compensation – simply said to intentionally overexpose a little. How much to do that depends on your scene but usually 2/3 EV or even 1 EV. This will compensate for camera reading and underexposing and give you correctly exposed shots. However, at the same time while doing it, you need to be careful to have white subject really white but not overexposed otherwise your highlights become just blown out without any detail or texture. Always check your camera display if your exposure looks good and if not (too dark or too bright), make accurate changes. Do not rely on post processing adjustments – the more proper results you can get directly out of the camera the better… Plus, guys, this is FLORA photography we are talking about – time to take your “me” time, relax and enjoy!

Are you interested in how our students managed to capture those extremely challenging exposure situations? Is it so complicated or we are just exaggerating? Well, let us demonstrate what we really mean by “white on white” when photographing flowers, with several outstanding examples taken during our previous PHOTOGRAPHING FLORA classes… The results can be so beautiful, what do you think?

And what do our students have to say?

Thank you Patrik and Monika for a fantastic critique of my images. I did learn a lot and thank you very much as I did enjoy the class. Especially being able to interact with my classmates which really enhanced the experience.
Louise Reeves (class of June 2021)

Patrik and Monika – I just wanted to say thanks for all the great ideas. I haven’t had time to try all of them, but they will keep me busy for quite awhile. I have really enjoyed this class.
Bob (class of June 2021)

Patrik and Monika – just wonderful instructors and lessons are just plain ole awesome!
Louise (class of June 2021)

I truly enjoyed this course. It got me outside to shoot and to think about flora. The lessons were fabulous. The class photo were beautiful I would recommend this course to anyone interested in flowers and flora. Thank You, Patrik and Monika!
Martha Rumley (class of July 2020)

PHOTOGRAPHING FLORA class begins October 1st, please join us here and enjoy photographing this amazing subject with us!

We are looking forward to meeting you in class!

Patrik and Monika

Michele Baxley

Donna Sturla

Zuzana Novotna

Pam Corckran

Sarka Drapakova

Michaela Nesvadbova

Lucie Portesova

Louise Reeves

Karen Partridge

Linda Wolk

Darja Nezvalova

Laura Russomano

Jodi Fredericksen

Iva Ullrichova

Dave H

Darja Nezvalova

Andrea Zapotocka

“I just wanted to thank you for another wonderful class. I have to confess that each week when I read the new assignment, my first reaction was mild panic and a deep certainty that I would not be able to produce anything worthwhile that fit within the parameters you had set. But before I knew it, the ideas started to flow, and I quickly became obsessed (no, that isn’t too strong a word!) with exploring the possibilities. I can honestly say that the photos I produced in response to your assignments are among my favorites. Thanks for bringing out a creative side I didn’t know I had!”

Barbara Geiger
Understanding Color

“Thank you so very much for this course! It’s allowed me to take the blinders off and present my images for what I want them to be without being a slave to the “reality” of the camera. I would also add that in conjunction with your printing course, this has been the most useful course I’ve ever taken. Your notes are more than comprehensive and your comments and critiques are direct, clear, and always directed to the improvement of the art.”

Bill
After the click

” I want to thank you for this class and for your patience and availability to answer all of my questions. I have learned very much through this class. I have used LR in the past, but mostly for editing images. I now have a better grasp in the organization of my images, an even better understanding of editing images, and an understanding of the value of presets. I still have a lot to learn, but this has put me on the road to be able to improve my photography. Again, thank you! ”

Dale Yates
Lightroom Quickstart

Classes Starting Soon!