This Summer we planted a flower garden and they are blooming in the best possible way.  Our giant Day of the Dead Marigolds are so vibrant that I love taking photos of them!

To capture their rich color, I pay special attention to where the Sun's rays are hitting my camera.

Do you know what this is?

It's called a lens hood.  It helps shield your lens from the sun.  Have you ever noticed that some of your images look foggy? Or like they have a thin white film over the top? That's because the sun's rays hit your lens directly and creates a lens flare.  

Sometimes it creates a beautiful effect, like the star like rays above.  Other times it just makes it difficult to see your subject clearly and mutes the colors. If you use the lens hood or in this case, I used my hand to shield the sun from my iPhone lens, it creates a much cleaner, clearer image with brighter colors.  

And that's what I was going for with these beauties. 

If you have any questions send them my way!