Photo Tip: Patience is a Virtue

Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) and bumble bee (Photo: K. Burkard)

Having taken thousands of photos of natural subject matter, botanical photos are my favorite. Other than movement caused by wind, plants are some of the best behaved subjects you could ever take a photo of. They can wait patiently for hours in the same pose and they never deny you when you wish to take their portrait. They are more than happy to accommodate.

But the fauna that visits that flora? They are a jittery bunch. They flit from bloom to bloom with reckless abandon rarely pausing long enough for a good view let alone a well-composed photograph. So how do you get shots like this one?

First watch the flowers and you will see the rhythm of the pollinators. It is much like a dance from flower to flower. You'll see that they visit each flower in turn and that no flower is unvisited for long. Then pick your floral subject. Pick a beautiful, perfect bloom. Now see the photo you want in your mind. Set your focus, get the sun and shadow to fall as you need, and whatever else you need to do to get that envisioned shot. Now the hard part, quietly wait. Your shot will come if you have the patience for it.