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Tips on Photographing Flowers

With the advent of the digital era, the popularity of photography has skyrocketed. This means images have to be interesting and well photographed if they are going to stand out from the crowd. Because shooting nature and flowers is a popular genre of photography, this is especially true. There are a few tips you can use for better flower photography.

Get Close
- Often flower photographs are more visually appealing when the flower has filled most or all of the frame. If the flower will not fit the frame evenly, photograph half of the flower, shooting a small amount of background to the left or right side. Set your camera on "Macro" to get closer and capture more detail.
Background
- A busy background will most likely not be very appealing. Place a black or dark background behind the flower for a plain, simple background. This will draw the eye to the photograph and then to the main subject. When photographing flowers outside, a background is not needed. Blur the surrounding flowers using a wide aperture to create the same effect.
Angles
- Shoot from various viewpoints: above, below, from the left and from the right. Depending on where the light is located in the frame, one angle may look better than another. Give backlighting to a flower to create a glow, or shoot down on the flower to create shadows. Too much light, however, will make the picture appear washed out.
Aperture
- The aperture set during flower photography is important. A wide aperture blurs the background of the photo, drawing more attention to the subject. Set your camera at one of the lowest f/stops available. The average lens has a lowest aperture setting of 3.8; other lenses have a lowest aperture setting of 1.4.

Photography