Macro = Best For Nature
Botanical photography of nature's flora and fauna stems from textbook illustrations of the natural world. Used in various cataloging styles, such drawings were a highly skilled job that required a comprehensive understanding of horticultural knowledge. Physicians, pharmacists, scientists, and gardeners often used pictures of plant life for proper identification and analysis. These practices can be traced back to sometime between 50 and 70 CE, when a book titled De Materia Medica, created by Greek botanist Pedanius Dioscorides, informed readers to identify plant species for medicinal purposes. Centuries of advancements were seen in the printing process, allowing colors and details to appear more accurately on paper.
Thus, time evolves, and technology advances. While hand-drawn illustrations are still widely prevalent and often gazed upon as an art practice, digital photography has become increasingly popular. Anna Atkins, an early pioneer of plant photography, made her significant entrance to the botanical world by creating over 10,000 images by hand. Her cyanotype printing method produced striking colors later known as 'blueprints,' expanding an exciting world for flora lovers and botanical identifiers across the globe.
If you're a gardener, arborist, forager, or novice botanist — studying the taxology of various plants can be intimidating, which is where photography can come in. Whether it's a hobby or you want to photograph bountiful harvests, photographing this unique subject matter is an art. How do you capture its beauty? If you wish for a macro shot, which camera tools are best?
Let's dive in.