Photo by Marivi Pazos on Unsplash
For those of us in the northern hemisphere, spring is just around the corner. And with it, comes the opportunity to photograph flowers.
Flowers are perfect subjects for photography because they have gorgeous color, beautiful details, interesting shapes, and they stay still!
What’s more, with spring weather often comes cloudy days, which are ideal for flower photography, as well as rain showers, which leave water droplets on flowers that add a wonderful bit of interest to your photos.
With all that in mind, here are a few spring flower photography tips to help you maximize the results you get.
Spring Flower Photography Tip #1: Keep an Eye on the Weather
photo by Fenneke Smouter via iStock
It might seem like a bright, sun-filled spring day is ideal for flower photography, but a cloudy day is actually much better.
On a sunny day, harsh highlights and shadows can abound in your photos. Conversely, cloudy days have much softer light that’s perfect for highlighting all the small details of a flower.
Clouds act like a huge diffuser, so rather than getting deep shadows that hide some of the details of the flower, you get soft light that falls evenly on the flower.
Not only is this advantageous from an aesthetic perspective, but it will also help you get an improved exposure.
Quick Tip: The best time to photograph flowers is usually in the early morning. Wind is typically light in the mornings and you’ll find more insect activity in the morning as well. Early morning light is soft and golden, too, which can add a pleasing element to your images.
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Spring Flower Photography Tip #2: Protect Your Gear
photo by PamelaJoeMcFarlane via iStock
Springtime often means unpredictable weather, and the last thing you want is to be caught in a rain shower without a means of protecting your camera gear.
You don’t want to quit shooting during a rainstorm, either, because the droplets of water on flowers make for a gorgeous subject.
You can opt for a traditional rain cover, but the problem with them is that they’re so restrictive.
Not only do you have to reach your hands into the cover to make adjustments to camera settings, but it’s also incredibly difficult to even see what you’re doing with the camera covered up.
What’s more, traditional camera covers don’t cover the end of the lens, so you constantly have to wipe rain off of the lens.
Fortunately, Camera Canopy exists to resolve those issues.
Since it mounts to the hot-shoe mount and sits above your camera, you can freely access your camera’s dials and buttons to make quick adjustments.
Additionally, there’s no cover obscuring your view, so you can more easily compose shots, check the histogram, review your images, and so on.
Notice in the image above how the back of my camera is completely open, just as it should be!
Camera Canopy can be adjusted to fit any number of lenses up to 500mm in length, so the macro, wide-angle, and standard lenses you need for flower photography will be well-covered.
Of course, since Camera Canopy is adjustable, all you need to do is extend the rain shield to accommodate longer lenses.
Below, you can see how the Camera Canopy offers my 70-200mm lens just fine.
What’s so nice about using this device is that it’s easy to install and it can be used for different pursuits.
Shield your camera and lens for flower photography in your backyard, then put a longer lens on your camera, grab Camera Canopy, and head to the mountains for some wildlife photography.
And because it extends over the end of your lens, Camera Canopy helps you avoid the constant need to wipe your lens clean.
That means that with Camera Canopy, you can keep on shooting beautiful spring flower photos, even if the weather isn’t all that beautiful!
Spring Flower Photography Tip #3: Get In Close
photo by SundeepGoel via iStock
One of the best attributes of flowers is the intricate details of their petals. And while photos that include many flowers can be beautiful, it’s also worth your time to get some close-up shots.
As you can see above, getting in close allows you to create a much more intimate photo that highlights the small details of the flower.
Note how the center of the flower - where the most delicate features are - is perfectly sharp. This is important because just like you want a person’s eyes to be sharp in a portrait, you want to perfect the focus of flower photos to draw the viewer’s attention to the center of the flower.
Quick Tip: To get the image sharp, use your camera’s single point autofocus feature. Doing so allows you pinpoint the area on which the camera will focus. Learn more about autofocus modes here.
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Spring Flower Photography Tip #4: Shoot From Different Angles
photo by borchee via iStock
When tackling spring flower photography, it’s important to remember that not every shot you take has to be looking down at the middle of the flower.
Instead, move around the flower to capture different points of view. You might shoot across the flower for a profile shot. Alternatively, you can hoot upward from below the flower to highlight how light filters through its petals.
Photo by kazuend on Unsplash
By offering alternative points of view, you’ll be able to create images that are more unique and have more visual appeal as well.
Spring Flower Photography Tip #5: Use Color as a Compositional Tool
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
One way to make a flower stand out amongst other flowers is to ensure that the background is free of clutter and distractions.
You can also use color to bring attention to the primary subject.
For example, you can adjust your shooting angle such that similar colored flowers aren’t directly behind the subject flower.
photo by borchee via iStock
In the sample image above, shooting from this angle put the purple tulips on a green background, making it stand out much more.
Look for complementary and contrasting colors when taking this approach, and you’ll get much more pleasing results.
Quick Tip: Minimize the depth of field to get a nicely blurred background. If you aren’t sure how to do that, check out this tutorial.