Flowers are the best subjects for macro photography because flowers are available everywhere and in every season. You can shoot them outdoors or you can buy them and click in the comfort of your home. Let’s talk about the ten things you need to remember for amazing macro photos of flowers.
We have already talked about the equipment for macro photography in a previous article (Equipments You Need For Macro Photography), so we are not discussing the equipment here. But in short, you need a camera body, a lens (preferably macro), and a flash with a diffuser for softer light. So, let’s get started.
- Shoot in the morning or evening:
The best time for shooting flowers is either morning or evening because that time light is warm and soft, so it gives vibrant colors. If you shoot in the daytime when the sun is high, you won’t get good colors, also it will produce harsh shadows that will ruin the shot. If you have no other options and you have to shoot in the daytime, use a scrim to soften the light and avoid harsh shadows.
You may use a thin white cloth or butter paper to make a portable scrim. The best option is to buy a white translucent umbrella and use it as a scrim. It’s portable, easy to carry and it can protect you and your expensive equipment in case of rain.
- Choose a clam day:
For macro photography of flowers, always choose a windless day. If the wind is very strong and fast, the flowers will move rapidly and you will have a problem with focusing and getting a sharp shot. If you have to click pictures of flowers on a windy day because you are free on that day only, go to a florist shop, buy some flowers and take shots inside the home.
- Background:
Always check the background before clicking. Most of the time the background will be blurred but still, it should not have any distractions. It should be clean and have complimenting colors. If you are getting some distraction in the background, just move your camera a little and you can get a completely different background.
- Depth of field:
Depth of field is essential in macro photography. When we shoot tiny subjects, we get a very thin depth of field and it's not possible to get the entire shot in focus. There are two solutions to this problem. First, use a narrow aperture like f/16 or f/18 to increase the depth of field. It’ll give you a deeper depth of field but in this case, you need a lot of light, so using a flash would be a good idea.
Second, if possible, shoot in a way that your main subject comes in the same focal plane. Like if you are shooting a sunflower at 45 degrees angle, the chances are that you won’t get the entire flower in focus but if you shoot the same flower at ninety degrees angle, you will get everything in focus because it’s in the same focal plane.
- Focusing:
Some photographers suggest a manual focus for macro photography but in my opinion, autofocus is a better option. If you ask me why? Well, my reply would be that it’s easy, it’s faster and both of your hands are free to hold the camera so there are fewer chances of blurred photos because of the camera shake. Always use a single-point focus setting on your camera and focus on the point of interest.
Make sure that your hands and camera are still between focus lock and taking the picture. If your camera moves a little bit after focus lock, your subject could be out of focus entirely. By the way, if you are more comfortable with manual focus, feel free to go for that.
- Shoot in RAW:
Always shoot in RAW because RAW files contain all of the data that is captured by the sensor of your camera. In post-processing, you can use that data to get the best colors and sharpness. If you are shooting in RAW and you took a photo with the wrong setting, you can easily fix it in post-processing. Even if you have taken a black and white photo accidentally, you can get all the colors back if it’s a RAW file.
This tip is not just for macro photography, it’s for every kind of photography you do. Just remember, always, always, and always shoot in RAW.
- Try different angles:
We usually take pictures of the flowers from the top or side, but sometimes the backside of the flowers can also be beautiful and interesting. So, always check your subject from a different point of view. You never know, you might find something which others can’t find and you come up with some extraordinary pictures. A good photographer’s job is to find and click something which normal people couldn’t see.
- Don’t ignore dead flowers:
Fresh flowers always look good and we try to take pictures of them, but in macro photography, even dead flowers can be a very good subject. When the life of a flower ends, the petals fall and it starts preparing seeds so that more beautiful flowers can bloom next season. These seeds look amazing in macro photography.
Again, as a photographer, our job is to capture something that others can’t see.
- Keep a spray bottle:
You must agree that after the rain, everything starts looking even more beautiful. Grass starts looking greener, flowers start looking more colorful. The raindrops on flowers or leaves make them vivid and that’s the best time to capture them.
Blog Credit: Ramakant Sharda Ramakant is an Award-Winning Photographer, Author, Mobile Apps Publisher based in the beautiful “Pink City” of India, known as Jaipur. Many of his works have been published in magazines, newspapers, and international blogs. He writes about photography and also teaches photography in his workshops. He has published three (so far) coffee table books. Get his latest book Mastering High-Speed Photography.
