Photography

Although flower photography is basic close-up photography, quality can be improved with the right equipment. Consideration needs to be given to digital and/or SLR cameras, lighting, and in the case of conventional cameras, film speed and film color balance. A tripod is also essential.

For sample pictures, see photo.danen.org and you'll soon learn to distinguish good from bad pictures.

Here are a few suggestions to improve the quality of your flower photos:

• Point and shoot cameras are not very suitable for flower photography and will only leave you feeling frustrated with your results. A single lens reflex (SLR) or a digital camera is the proper tool.
• You can't take beautiful photos of mediocre flowers. Look at the blooms, select only flawless flowers.
• Tie distracting elements out of picture, using masking tape or twist ties. Remove stakes or cut them short enough that they're out of sight.
• Lighting is a main ingredient of all good photography, look for either window light of good quality, bright open shade such as the shady side of a building, or modified flash. Avoid dense shade such as under a tree or bright midday sun.
• A strobe (electronic flash) is a convenient, portable light source, however pictures can turn out harsh and with too much contrast. Try modifying the light output by diffusion or bounce (Strobe must be able to tilt up for bounce.) A white handkerchief used to cover the flash lens with a rubber band can substantially improve light quality. A piece of white foam core can be easily fashioned into a bounce reflector or you can buy one ready-made. Even a white file card and rubber band can be used for bounce flash.
• If shooting outdoors find a sheltered location, out of the wind, to avoid flower movement.
• Use plain background of neutral color (poster board or mat board is good). Muted earth tones set off the flowers well without being distracting. Try colors like charcoal, olive green, brown, dull blue and of course, black. If using flash, place background at least 2 ft. behind flowers to avoid shadows.
• If you have designs on producing studio-quality flower pictures but can't quite justify the cost of studio lights there's a great way to do it using a couple of card tables and a white bed sheet.
• If using auto-exposure and you have the choice; select aperture priority and use a small f.-stop (aperture setting) for maximum depth of field. The larger the f. number, the smaller the aperture. Keep in mind that as you decrease the aperture you will increase the exposure time. Unless you have very steady hands always use a tripod for exposures longer than 125th sec. If your camera has a self-timer use it to fire the shutter when using a tripod to avoid shaking.
• If using an auto focus camera, visually check focus before shooting and correct if necessary.
• If shooting slide film, be sure to "bracket" exposures, i.e., shoot at normal exposure, 1 stop under exposed, and 1 stop over exposed.
• When shooting color print film keep in mind that the lab technicians don't know what color your flowers are. It often helps to include a familiar object in the first frame of a sequence of pictures shot under the same light...film boxes work well.
• Close-up lenses are an inexpensive way to focus closer. They come in various strengths, +1 to +4 and screw into a lens just like a filter does.
• Everybody loves a black background for flower pictures...well almost everybody. Here's a great way to make an isolation background for isolating a single flower.