Five Tips for Amazing Floral Photography

Flora is one of the best subjects to shoot when you want to experiment with your photography. If you are looking to improve your floral photography, check out the follow tips:

The Closer You Get the Better

The best floral details are the ones you get when you get in as close as you can to your subject. Ideally, a macro lens will help you achieve high quality flower photos. Specifically, a 50mm to 200mm lens. Macro lenses help us see details with a different perspective. Think about it. The texture of a petal or water droplets on a leaf take on a whole new life when you get in close.

Use Selective Focus, Selectively

When using a macro lens, find one area to focus on and make that the focal point of your image. This will help to highlight a particularly interesting part of your subject. Choose a low ISO for quality and use a tripod to steady your camera and avoid camera shake. Choose a shallow depth of field, between f/2.8–f/8 to give everything except your subject a blurry effect.

Use Manual Focus

Because depth of field is very narrow with close-up photographs, precise focusing is critical for sharp, quality images. Changing focus alters the magnification of the subject, so set that first, then gently nudge the camera backwards and forwards to position the sweet spot of sharpness where you want it.

Look for the Light

Outdoor photography can pose challenges with the changing weather conditions, but that is the best part about it. On sunny days, use your flash to help balance the harsh sunlight. You can also use the flash to brighten your subject. Use a gold reflector to add warmth and a silver reflector to bounce light back on your subject. Also, reflectors are useful as a shield against the wind.

Add Water

A spray bottle can be your best friend. You can recreate the look of a dew covered flower by spritzing your flower. Adding a few drops of water can bring new life to your flower photographs. The great thing about flowers is you can practice shooting with them year around in just about any condition. So, use at least one of these tips and transform the way you shoot flowers from here on out.

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