Ron Long – Photographing Flowers

It’s always a pleasure to have Ron Long as a speaker! His combined love of photography and flowers is an inspiration!  The special treat, of course, is getting to view a small part of his extensive collection of photographs.  Some of the flower names were very descriptive, and we were definitely intrigued by the pink elephant, monkey orchid, and cobra lily. Ron also made sure to include a few shots that were examples of “less than perfect”.  That way he gave us good practice in spotting ways to improve our own photography. Ron firmly believes in “getting it right” in the camera, not in the computer afterwards.  He said to ask yourself, “What else can I do?” and “How can I make it better?”  He does use the computer for cropping either the top bottom or the sides, but never both!

Some of Ron’s important tips were:

• Find the perfect flower
• Take your time and look for different angles
• The background is as important as the flower
• Tripods can limit your choice of angle
• Use the light and shadows to enhance your photo
• Most of all… have fun!

Ron Long has a particular interest in native species here and is a member of the “Pink Mountain Biodiversity Initiative” which seeks to protect the endangered and rare species found there. http://www.pinkmountain.ca/home/ron-long  

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Ron Long (speaker bio. by Melanie G.)

Ron Long had a 36-year career as a professional photographer at Simon Fraser University, working mostly for the Biosciences Department.  Ron became interested in native plants over 50 years ago and has searched for, and photographed BC plants ever since.  Now retired, Ron has extended his plant hunting to wildflower hotspots around the world.