How to Photograph Flowers
Improving Your Flower Photography

Find out how to photograph flowers to get the best flower photography possible. This digital photography tutorial will help you set up your camera to get great pictures of flowers.

Keep it Simple

One of the biggest mistakes people make when taking pictures of flowers is trying to include too many things in one picture. If you're taking a picture of a field of flowers you may want to include the whole field of flowers to show how many there are. You can take the picture to just include a section of flowers without the horizon. You can also include the horizon to show the vastness of the field.

Usually the best way to photograph flowers is to take pictures of one flower at a time. Isolating a single flower in the frame can make a lovely picture. You can take a lovely macro picture that captures the morning dew on the flower. Remember to keep the rule of thirds in mind when you try to figure out how to position the flower in the frame.

Aperture

When you take a picture of an isolated flower set your aperture to a low setting. This will make the depth of field quite shallow so the other objects in the area blur to make an abstract background. This effect will make the flower in the picture pop.

Use a Tripod

When taking pictures close-up a tripod can be really important. You should use a tripod to hold your camera still while taking pictures of flowers. This will help you get a sharper focus and more details in your picture.

Lighting

If life were perfect you'd always have perfect golden light when you take pictures outdoors, but life isn't perfect. If you're finding shadows getting in the way of getting a good picture you can use a fill flash. On most DSLR cameras you can cut the intensity of the flash. On compact cameras try taping tissue paper over the lens to make the flash less intense. If you have an off camera flash try bouncing it.

Play with Perspective

There are many pictures taken of flowers from above. Try experimenting with camera angles to get pictures of flowers from a different perspective. Try taking pictures of the flower from straight on or even from underneath.

If you liked these tips on how to photograph flowers you make like my other digital photography tutorials.