My Photography Book

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Flower Photography - Getting Started

By Danielle Russell


Many people enjoy flower photography as their photography form of choice. There are different ways to go about this, including photographing flowers in your own garden or greenhouse or someone else's, flowers in indoor arrangements or wild flowers in the forest.

You can use a standard film camera or a digital one for flower photography.

Any lens can be used in flower photography, from the ultra-wide angle lens (17mm),to the super-telephoto lens (300mm or 400mm),but if you are serious about closeup flower photography, buy a macro lens. As for the point-and-shoot variety, many digital cameras have their own macro feature. Macro mode allows you to use your digital camera for extreme closeups of your subject, which is why it is just right for photographing flowers.

A tripod is essential because it reduces the chance that you'll get a blurry image. But take note that most tripods, even at fully collapsed mode, are still too high to take pictures of low growing flowers. With that in mind, you will need a tripod that allows you to use it relatively close to the ground. For these specialized needs in which you need to snap small subjects (in this case, flowers), you will need a tabletop tripod.

The film you choose has to be color saturated. For this, you will need to look for ISO 50 or ISO 100 film. Don't use film faster than ISO 400 for flower photography.

The ideal lighting for photographing flowers is the soft, diffused light of open shade or a cloudy day. Or you can snap your photos in the evening. A flower photo can be very attractive when illuminated by flash. The wind can make photographing flowers quite difficult, but if you're patient enough to wait it out, you could get some quality results.

Regardless whether you're working indoors or outdoors, try peculiar, out-of-the-box angles when photographing flowers. For example, you can take pictures in the early morning, then try a different kind of lighting in the late afternoon. Add some ambiance to the picture with warming filters. You can use water droplets to create a dewy effect on your flower photos. Backlighting is another technique you can implement, as is making the petals look transparent.

You can take your photos in color, which is the most popular form of flower photography, but you can get that old-school feel if you wish when shooting in monochrome.

However, no quick list of flower photography tips is complete without us advising you to practice regularly, and to do your homework. Botanical gardens and nature preserves are some of the places where you can not only take photos of flowers but also learn more about them.




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