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One Flower - Two Different Looks

July 29, 2026

Here is a Dalhia flower that I processed with two different looks.Cropped, sharpened and processed in Smart Photo Editor. Here is the original out of the camera. Get ready to bloom into a stunning flower photographer!Join our exclusive online Flower Photography Club and learn from the masters!• Expert guidance on capturing breathtaking images• Connect with fellow photography enthusiastsReady to grow your skills? Click here: https://www.mikemoats.com/flower-photo-club

Backlighting and Shadows

July 27, 2026

Backlighting and ShadowsWhen: Summer Where: Edge of a pond, Michigan How:It was early morning, and the sun had just peaked over the top of the trees as I was strolling along the edge of a pond looking for subjects to shoot. As I was walking, I happened to look up into a Sycamore tree and saw this interesting combination of backlighting and shadow.The alignment of the leaves was amazingly perfect. I set up the frame with a nice tight shot to eliminate all the clutter ...

Crazy Palms

July 20, 2026

This is not my usual macro/close-up image but while I was shooting macro/close-up images at the Meijer Botanical Garden in Grand Rapids, Michigan, I looked up into this very tall group of palm trees in the tropical greenhouse and just had to shoot these crazy patterns in the palms. Get ready to bloom into a stunning flower photographer!Join our exclusive online Flower Photography Club and learn from the masters!• Expert guidance on capturing breathtaking images• Connect with ...

My New Favorite Flower

July 19, 2026

My wife and I went to a local nursery to buy some new plants for our flower beds and came across this flower that I have never seen before. I was like, wow, look at this crazy looking flower, have to buy one to photograph. The sign behind the pots said it was a Kangaroo Paw Plant.Shot with my Fuji X-T30 MKll and my Tamron 18-300. Get ready to bloom into a stunning flower photographer!Join our exclusive online Flower Photography Club and learn from the masters!• ...

Before and After - Zinnia

July 15, 2026

Shot this Zinnia at the Ankley Farm in Imlay City, MI. Used my Fuji X-T30 MKll and Tamron 18-300 lens. f/25 @ 1/30sec ISO2000.Did a square crop of the flower center, sharpened the image and changed the color from the original red to what you see here. Here is the original out of the camera. Get ready to bloom into a stunning flower photographer!Join our exclusive online Flower Photography Club and learn from the masters!• Expert guidance on capturing ...

Fake Flower Photography

July 12, 2026

I’ve been experimenting with silk flowers purchased from a local crafts store and I have to admit that they look very real. The one problem with photography them is that the fine texture in the silk fabric can be seen in the photos. It is not as noticeable to the naked eye, but the camera and lens sees all. I think these will work out great by adding some artistic filters which will help hide the textures of the silk fabric. The Topaz Impression program or the Glow program Topaz recently ...

Before and After - Flower Backside

July 9, 2026

Lately I've been having fun shooting group of flowers rather than single flowers. This one is not a group of a flower but a group of flower and buds, plus I like that shooting the backside of the flower is a different perspective.Fuji X-T30 MKll Tamron 18-300, f/5.6 @ 1/100sec, ISO2000Creative post processing done in Smart Photo Editor. The original out of the camera. FLOWER PHOTO CLUB - Mike Moats - Award Winning Macro Photographer

The world up close: A conversation with Mike Moats

July 7, 2026

I don't like articles that have been written about me in photo sites, or magazines, as they always seemed to get all the info I gave the interviewer wrong, but this one I was very happy with.https://photofocus.com/inspiration/the-world-up-close-a-conversation-with-mike-moats/?fbclid=IwAR2lzjoxjctDU-PbQHi5gW4kh8eDMgriV9uEg0Hc1t6NJtyd8eQEWaSTYn8 Get ready to bloom into a stunning flower photographer!Join our exclusive online Flower Photography Club and learn from the masters!• Expert ...

Special Lighting Effects

July 5, 2026

Over the years I've posted many images with unique lighting effects, and sometimes people ask how that lighting happened, assuming it was done with a flash(s) or another light source. If you have followed me over the years, you know I have never used a flash system, and only on a very rare occasion would i use a handheld LED light for a little fill light in a dark area of a subject, but like I said, that is very rare when that happens.Any special effects in the lighting of my images comes ...

Tiny Green Trumpets

July 2, 2026

I was at one of my local parks and came across this downed decayed tree trunk with some dewy weird looking fungus going on top. As I moved in close it looked like tiny little trumpets growing out of the mossy material. Set up my tripod, got the camera in really close with a macro lens. Here is the result. Get ready to bloom into a stunning flower photographer!Join our exclusive online Flower Photography Club and learn from the masters!• Expert guidance on capturing ...