Do you always crave to shoot bright, beautiful images of flowers in bloom but never quite sure how to get started? Do you think that the only way to do flower photography is to shoot from eye level? If you do, this discussion is definitely for you.
Flower photography is a very gratifying genre, but one that’s not without its share of myths. Some are founded on facts, while others are, well, pure myths. In this discussion, we will learn some essential flower photography tips to shoot better photos. And while we’re at it, we will also clear the air around some of those myths.
Ok, so cuddle up on your favorite sofa, and let’s get started.
1. Choose the Right Light to Shoot In
The first tip is to find the right light to shoot in. The general notion is if it’s a sunny day with abundant bright sunshine, that is the best kind of light to shoot flower photography in. This is not always correct. On the contrary, the best light to shoot flower photos is when it’s overcast.
Overcast days are like God’s way of producing soft diffused light. This is the best light to shoot not only flower photos but also other genres of photography, especially portraitures. The reason is overcast days produce soft light and that in turn eliminates harsh shadows.
If you are heading outside check the weather app to figure out if it’s going to be an overcast day. If it’s not, don’t fret, carry a diffuser. The diffuser can be used to soften the light for photographing flowers.
2. Best Location to Shoot Flower Photos
Some photographers feel flower photography is best done at exotic locations. That means you have to take an expensive vacation and travel to some distant place to do flower photography. Nothing can be farther from the truth.
You can take photographs of flowers practically anywhere. It could be your backyard, on the terrace, and on the hiking trail. Flowers are practically everywhere. So a park or open public space where there are a lot of trees are ideal locations for flower photography.
3. Change Your Perspective
A common mistake that almost everybody makes is that they take a photograph from eye level and they are happy with it. Although that is the more ’traditional’ camera angle with which the majority of flower photography is done, it’s a no-brainer that photos taken from the eye-level look average.
The solution is to change the perspective. One way to achieve that is by getting down to the level of the flower and shoot from that level. This not only gives you the option to play around with the depth of field but also play with the composition.
4. Try Simple Clean Compositions
A majority of the flower photography ideas tossed around don’t talk about simple clean compositions. A simple clean composition is sometimes the best way to photograph flowers.
This requires that you keep the subject at a corner of the frame and leave out a sufficient amount of space around the subject. This space is also known as negative space.
5. Shoot With a Macro Lens
Macro lenses are special purpose lenses designed to get in very close to a subject and capture a photograph that fills the frame. A true macro lens can produce a life-size representation of a subject, onto the image plane, while focusing from a very short distance.
In plain English, the benefit of using a macro lens is that you can get in close and capture images of small details that are otherwise impossible to achieve using a normal lens. For example, you can focus on a stigma or a stamen of a flower and create a large, magnified, and in-focus image of only that small part. This is impossible to achieve with a traditional lens.
Pro Tip: Don’t worry if you don’t have a macro lens. You can always try the lens reversal technique. You will need a lens with a physical aperture ring on it and a lens reversal ring. This will allow you to mount your lens in reverse and create that same magnification effect that a proper macro lens does.
6. Use a Tripod
The one tip that every flower photography expert would give you is – use a tripod. A tripod is extremely essential because it helps you to stabilize your camera while you were trying to focus on a very small part of a flower. Even the slightest movement of your hands can blur a photo. A tripod prevents that from happening.
Plus, when you’re using a macro lens you are focusing at a very close range. So, even the slightest movement gets magnified. A tripod is the best option to stabilize your camera.
Besides flower photography, you can also use a tripod for long exposure photos.
7. Watch Out for the Wind
Notwithstanding what you just learned above, the wind is your worst enemy. Plus, a tripod will not protect you if the conditions get windy.
Picture this – you find a perfect flower, you set up your camera, you set the exposure, and just as you are about to fire the shutter release, the wind picks up. It continues to blow for the next 5 to 10 minutes. How frustrating is that?
These are all normal working conditions and as a flower photographer, you have to overcome them or find a way to work around them.
So, how to photograph flowers on a windy day?
The solution that I use is I carry a few pieces of cardboard. No more than two feet by two feet. I use them as a buffer so that the wind doesn’t spoil my shot.
Even then it’s always advisable to check the weather app and find out if conditions are going to be windy. If so you can always reschedule your shoot.
8. Background Blur
You may have heard about background blur or the more famous term – ‘Bokeh’. Bokeh usually refers to the quality of the out-of-focus effect and not just the out-of-focus effect itself.
The idea behind background blur is to eliminate aspects in the frame that don’t add to the composition. It’s an irony that background blur, though it obliterates stuff that you don’t need in a photograph, adds to the overall composition by making it cleaner.
So how do you create background blur?
There are a fair number of factors that determine how much background blur you can achieve as well as the quality of the background blur you can achieve. Without going into too much technicality this is the simplest approach – just use the fastest f-stop that your lens is capable of and leave out as much space as you can between your subject and the background to produce the maximum background blur.
9. Use the Live View Mode
Your interchangeable lens camera has something known as the live view mode. This mode allows you to look at a frame via the LCD monitor at the back of your camera. It certainly helps in terms of ease of composition, because it’s a much larger window to see what your camera is looking at compared to the tiny viewfinder.
E.g., when you are down on the ground it’s very difficult to keep your eyes on the viewfinder. The rear LCD monitor is a much more practical option in such a situation.
10. Retouch Your Photos
It’s not enough to shoot on an overcast day with the best camera and lens combination and use the best techniques to shoot flower photos. You still got to do some retouching so that your photos are presentable.
Simple adjustments like tweaking the color and the vibrance in post-processing can help you enhance your photos and make them better. This is how you can do this in Colorcinch.
Did you know there are a ton of other adjustments that you can do in Colorcinch? You can play around with the brightness, the contrast, the highlights, or even the saturation and temperature of your photos for free in Colorcinch?
The best thing is you don’t even have to register yourself or make any payment to be able to make these adjustments in Colorcinch. I made the above changes to my photo of this red hibiscus in no time at all! And it is ready to be shared in a jiffy.
Concluding Thoughts
I hope the above discussion has helped you to understand how to get started and make beautiful photos of flowers. This isn’t meant to be an exhaustive list and you are likely to develop some techniques of your own as you progress. Feel free to use these techniques to start and then improvise them to suit your needs. If you need more ideas on compositional techniques use this guide. Happy clicking!
