Flower/plant photography book

<p>Hello all,<br>

<br />I am not very familiar with any well-known/famous books showcasing flower/plant photography because it is not my primary area of interest. I am looking to get a book as a Christmas gift for someone (who is not likely to be reading this forum, hopefully!). I thought I could call upon on your considerable experiences.<br>

<br />Can anyone recommend some books for me to consider please? If the book is one that teaches photographing plants and flowers, then that is also okay as along as the photos are good, although the advise is likely to be ignored!<br>

<br />Ta in advance,<br>

Po</p>

<p>not exactly all flowers and plants, John Shaw's close-ups in nature does cover a lot of flower and plant subjects</p>

<p>It's not my primary area of interest either, but I think of 2 classics I like a lot. The first one is Blossfeld https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Blossfeldt and the second are the Flowers of Robert Mapplethorpe http://www.mapplethorpe.org/portfolios/flowers/<br>

Hope that helps.</p>

For dual-use showcase and learning, the Shaw book referenced above is pretty the only one I was aware of until today. A

quick search also turned up "Macro Photography for Gardeners and Nature Lovers: The Essential Guide to Digital

Techniques" by Alan Detrick, but that looks like a guide more than a nice bo to look at. Personally, I like the way Shaw

writes and enjoy his books, so his Closeups in Nature would probably be my first choice.

 

Depending on how much you are looking to spend, "Botanica Magnifica: Portraits of the World's Most Extraordinary

Flowers and Plants" looks awesome from my perspective from a purely "looking at pictures of flowers" perspective. I own a big orchid encyclopedia (maybe an earlier version of "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Orchids" or "The New Encyclopedia of Orchids: 1500 Species in Cultivation") and it is pretty nice, but the pictures are small. If I can find it I'll pop in with the title.

<p>Thanks guys! Some really good suggestions, and much for me to ponder over the weekend.</p>

<p>Florescence: The World's Most Beautiful Flowers by Clive Nichols.</p>

<p>Bit broader in scope (not a bad thing imho) but still covering the stuff you need, and more:</p>

<p><a href="http://imagesfromtheedge.com/blog/?p=9859">'Wide Angle Macro, The Essential Guide'.</a></p>

<h1 > </h1>

<p>Double post sorry</p>

 

<p>I found it. The book is called "Botanica's Orchids: Over 1200 Species" from Laurel Glen Publishing (September 1, 2002), ISBN: 1571457216.</p>

<p>The book appears to be out of print. However, it is available used at fairly reasonble prices. The photographs are fairly small, as this is a guide-sized (although entirely too thick to be a guide, and without sufficient ID features for field use) paperback. However, there are thousands of them, and they mostly of decent technical quality, if maybe not art.</p>

<p>Oh, thanks Joshua, well dug out! <br>

In my research I see they are planning to release a smaller version of "Botanica Magnifica: Portraits of the World's Most Extraordinary Flowers and Plants", but it's not out until next year. Maybe next year's Christmas present, or perhaps even the full size version if this year's gift turns out to be well received ;) <br>

<br />Thanks also to Harold and John for your suggestions. </p>

<p>I second Robert's suggestion on Shaw's books, in fact I used to teach a college course using them and learned much of my technical photography using his books. Shaw was a former English prof who writes very well. The only disadvantage at all to the early books is, of course, they also talk a lot of film talk, so digital discussion is missing.</p>

Check out Amazon

 

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_11?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-

keywords=flower+photography&sprefix=Flower+phot%2Caps%2C494

 

You can see use ratings, user comments there as well