Flower Photography Tips

15 ways to improve your flower photography and plant pictures

The following pointers are tips that I have picked up over the years and have helped me improve my pictures. I hope you find them useful.

1. Use a diffuser to block out the harsh light on sunny days.
2. Take photos of flowers on overcast days.
3. Blur the background to allow your subject to stand out in your picture. Use a macro lens or the largest aperture you can to achieve a small depth of field.
4. Avoid windy days to prevent motion blur.
5. Look at composition, have you correctly framed your subject? Try the thirds rule and avoid always placing the flower in the centre of the picture.
6. Experiment in adverse weather conditions. Frost and dew add extra impact to your photos.
7. Make sure you use the lowest ISO setting on your camera.
8. Use a tripod to obtain pin sharp photographs.
9. Make the flower the focal point in the photo. Try filling the frame with the flower and have no background showing.
10. Pay attention to what is in the background, you don't want to have a label in your picture, do a little "gardening", but be careful if you are not in your own garden.
11. If you take a photo of more than one flower, try and make it an odd number.
12. Look for flowers that are perfect examples, a nibbled petal looks tatty.
13. Try for a different perspective, from below, from above, in profile.
14. Use the histogram on your camera to ensure that you have no clipping.
15. Be creative with your lighting. Try back lit shots.