Shooting a Wet Plate Macro of a Cherry Blossom High on a Tree

After I recently saw cherry blossoms on my tree, I wanted to shoot one of them with my wet plate camera… while the blossom is still high on the tree.

When I was young, this tree was the location of my climbing adventures. This tree has seen better days – the weather during recent years has started to ruin some parts of it. But it is still beautiful in the springtime.

To make the blossom more steady, I clamped it onto a light stand:

Because the wind still moved it too much, I stopped the camera down to f/12 and placed a 1000W strobe pretty close to the blossom.

I could make my camera reach the tree with my maxed out Berlebach tripod (above 2 meters/6.5 feet). I initially thought I would an extra table underneath the tripod to reach the necessary height.

Because I didn’t give enough attention to securing my tripod, it nearly fell down two times. But after securing the legs and using a counterweight, the Berlebach tripod proved that it is built like a tank and it held my ultra large format camera in this extremely high position.

Here’s the final 21x27cm plate:

I created two plates — I’m keeping one, and the other is for sale through my store.

About the author: Markus Hofstaetter is a photographer who enjoys life and meeting people around the world. You can connect with him and find more of his work on his website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. This article was also published here.