A new month is born, and with it comes new dreams and plans. March means summer cant be far away. In many countries this is the season the flowers are in full bloom, adding to the vibrance of the location. Aarti shares with us a few photographs taken in the Blue Hills [Nilgiris] that remind her of spring, and colours.

There is colour, action, devotion and life on the streets of Bangalore when the Ganesh Festival begins. Every one is trying to be part of the festival as they bring the deity home . Capturing the essence of it is travel writer Lakshmi Sharath…

No matter if one is an amateur photographer or a professional shooter, shooting colorful flowers is something everyone loves to do. Flowers are quite beautiful and colorful that anyone can take a stunning image of a flower. The following are some of the techniques to be followed while capturing the colors of a flower, says Chennai based photographer Ratzzz

Depth of field: This is a simple technique to make the flower stand out from its background. Position the flower in such a way that the color of the flower stands out from the rest of its environment. Creating a brilliant bokeh of the leaves behind the flowers usually does the magic.

Angle: If there is a flower, already it must have been clicked thousand times. So click the flower at an angle that you won’t normally click at. The resulting composition will be brilliant and stunning.

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Neutralize the background: Flowers are so colorful and vivid that a black or background will make it look more scintillating. Hold a black paper, board or a plain cloth behind the flower and shoot with available light.

Accessorize: Like any other form of photography, flowers are beautiful when accessorized. Here the accessories are the dew drops. You can create artificial dew by spraying some water over the flowers before shooting.

Abstract: Go extra close and focus on parts of flowers rather than the whole flower. These images acquire an abstract quality. Look out for different patterns, textures and contrasting colors.

Light: Flowers look their best in the available light in their environment. Try to avoid flash or any kind of external lighting to the maximum extent. Try to compose your image in a way that you use the available light in best possible way.

One of the basic tips is to shoot the flowers in full manual mode or in “aperture priority” as it will give you maximum control in Depth of Field.