More effective outdoor flower photography
When you visit a garden or find a beautiful wildflower meadow it can often be a little overwhelming; so many flowers - where should you start? Keep in mind one main idea as you wander: eliminate distractions. Common distractions include that dead head you don’t notice, the lady in the background in a red jacket or the bin creeping into the frame on one side.
Get close
Search out one ideal flower and give it all your attention.
Scrupulously examine the rest of the frame for distractions.
Approach the flower like it is a person and you are making its portrait.
Include surroundings for context but don’t allow them to distract.
Use a large aperture for a shallow depth of field and selective focus.
f2.8, 1/200, ISO200, 100mm macro
Learn camera controls once and for all
Emma’s beginner’s camera course, A Year With My Camera, will have you confidently changing your apertures and shutter speeds in 6 weeks. It’s free by email. Join here and get started today:
Which aspect ratio?
Is your subject more suited to a landscape or a portrait aspect ratio? Or what about square? If you are hoping for a competition win don’t forget that judges traditionally prefer portrait for flowers and landscape for landscape.
The wider view and more “landscape” narrative calls for a landscape aspect ratio
A more traditional portrait aspect ratio to emphasise the direction of growth
Sometimes a square crop suits the centred, balanced message of an image
Watch the weather
Wind: you’ll need a higher shutter speed. Let your ISO creep up as high as it needs to go.
Sun: watch out for hard shadows. Move yourself to cast a shadow over the flower if needed.
Rain: wipe the splashes off your lens regularly with a soft cloth designed for this job and keep your camera as dry as you can.
This was the wettest I’ve ever been photographing flowers but it doesn’t really show in the final image - in fact the water gives the greens a lushness that is hard to recreate in dry conditions. f9, ISO250, 1/60, 50mm. See enlarged section below which shows the rain pelting down.
Don’t forget foliage
Leaves are beautiful too. Try positioning yourself so that you can get one branch in sharp focus with the rest of the tree behind providing a beautiful backdrop.
f2.8, 1/200, ISO100, 50mm
Try a black and white conversion to emphasise the shapes and form:
f1.2, 1/1000, ISO100, 50mm
Flower photography online course
My online flower photography course is available year round but most people join in for the annual “official” run-through in June each year. Click here for more details.
