10 Tips for Great Flower Photography

Flower photography is not only a great way to spend your time learning different photography techniques it is also a great way to add to your home decor! Flowers are a fantastic subject, not just because of their beauty, but also because of their availability. If you don’t have any flowers in your own yard to photograph you don’t have to go far to find some. You can easily photograph flowers at your local park, Mall, a restaurant, a friends garden, a community garden, just about every where you go there are flowers.

If you don’t want to photograph flowers in their natural setting you can purchase flowers in most grocery stores or at a local flower shop to take home and photograph in a studio setting. In fact, it’s hard to find a legitimate reason for not photographing flowers.

Let’s get down to business. Here is a list of 10 tips that will help you create some amazing flower photography.

1. One of first things you need to do with digital photography is to make sure you are using correct white balance settings. If your camera has option, I recommend that you use manual white balance function. If not, then use whatever setting is appropriate for lighting you are shooting with. The equivalent to white balance if you are shooting film is color balance. If you are shooting outside be sure you are using daylight balanced film. I also suggest that with daylight balanced film outdoors that you use a slight warming filter. Most of flower photography that you may do will either be in shade or on an overcast day creating a much bluer light then film is balanced for. On flip side, if shooting indoors with incandescent lighting or normal house lights you should be using tungsten balanced film. If indoor lighting is being supplied by florescent light, then use a florescent filter with daylight balanced film. This is just a starting point. Experiment, mix it up. You can get some fantastic special effects that way.

2. Get a polarizer filter. The great thing about a polarizer is that it will eliminate or reduce image degrading reflections. This helps to improve color saturation and contrast. At proper angle it will also dramatically darken a blue sky. This effect is adjusted by rotating filter until desired effect is achieved. There are 2 types of polarizer’s available, circular and linear. Most of advanced metering systems today that are built into your camera will not function properly with a linear polarizer. So I suggest you get a circular polarizer to play it safe. I have also seen warming polarizer’s. While I have not tried one you may want to experiment with them.

3. Always use a tripod. Let me repeat that, “Always use a tripod”. Not only will a tripod steady your camera and help you achieve a much sharper image, but it will also force you to think about your composition. You will have to place flowers in your photographic image much more deliberately instead of just pointing your camera and shooting away.

4. Don’t just take a snapshot of a flower that interests you and then move on. Set up your first shot to include whole flower then concentrate on details of flower that attract your eye. Focus on color or small details of flower.