New post: information on lighting control that you can carry with you in the field (so to speak)
Reflectors - used to bounce natural light into shadow areas of blossoms. These will work even if the sun is not shining as the sky is usually very bright compared to the shadow areas.
LiteDisc
Screens - used to reduce the contrast of bright sun-lit plants down to a range the film or digital camera can handle.
These are available as translucent LiteDiscs from Photoflex as well. The idea here is colors always appear more saturated when direct light is not hitting them. Ever see the bright reds of fall color leaves right after a rain or in a mist and the sun isn't shinning? They are much redder than when the sun is shining. You (or an assistant) can open one of these discs and hold above the plant, between the plant and the sun, and it will reduce the strength of contrast between highlights and shadows. The closer the screen is to the plant, the brighter the light will be.
Most of the better-equipped local camera shops carry or can order these discs. I personally have discs from 12" up to 60" size in many combinations of reflectors and screens. They collapse down to 4" to 24", depending on full size.
Threaded Mode