This week spring will be in full swing here in Boston. Temperatures will be soaring and it is that time of the year that I look so much forward to during the cold long New England winters. It is exciting and inspiring to come across the first snowdrops; crocuses bloom shortly thereafter in flashing yellow, purple and white. It is this beautiful reawakening of nature when I get ready for outdoor photography. In this blog post I compiled 15 spring flower photo tips that should inspire and help you capturing these precious spring and floral moments around your house, garden, parks and arboretums:Photo Tip #1: Overcast sky is ideal for flower photography and provides the preferred soft lighting for exceptional flower photos.
Photo Tip #2: Make your way out early because wind is less problematic in the early hours of the day. Don't be discouraged by wind later in the day and keep shooting for interesting abstract compositions where some blossoms may be in blurred motion while others may be in focus.
Photo Tip #3: Add more interest to your floral photography compositions by exploring your local botanical garden, park, or arboretum after rain showers or early in the morning when flowers are covered in raindrops or dew drops.
Photo Tip #4: Choose a low ISO settings like ISO25, 50, or 100 to capture maximum detail and minimize noise.
Photo Tip #5: Shoot with large apertures (small f-stop numbers like f/2.8, f/5.6, or f/8) for a shallow Depth of Field and to simplify composition.
Photo Tip #6: Use a Polarizing Filter to minimize glare and saturate colors.
Photo Tip #7: Use a Steady Tripod or fast shutter speeds to maximize image quality.
Photo Tip #8: Ensure you are close enough to obtain a frame-filling capture of the blossom.
Photo Tip #9: Shoot in manual mode and use the camera magnification feature to precisely focus on the floral distinctive point of visual interest, e.g. petal, stamen, pistil, insect on flower.
Photo Tip #10: Frame the main floral blossom with out-of-focus surrounding blossoms and flowers, thereby conveying a 3 Dimensional Feeling and pleasing composition.
Photo Tip #11: Slow down and carefully compose your flower image to position the floral in its best possible way.
Photo Tip #12: Eliminate distracting elements in the background. Use your camera depth of field preview feature to ensure the background is blurred out and does not contain any distracting elements, consider a tighter composition, or re-frame the image.
Photo Tip #13: Use white cardboard or reflectors to improve detail in shadowed and darker areas of the floral.
Photo Tip #14: Use the camera self timer, a cable release or remote release to trip the shutter. If not using live view use mirror lock up to minimize camera shake and blurry pictures.
Photo Tip #15: Get creative and push the envelope by exploring Abstract Compositions and different, unusual perspectives, e.g. low camera angles, get in real close with a macro lens, or use a very shallow depth of field.
Photo Tip #14: Use the camera self timer, a cable release or remote release to trip the shutter. If not using live view use mirror lock up to minimize camera shake and blurry pictures.
Photo Tip #15: Get creative and push the envelope by exploring Abstract Compositions and different, unusual perspectives, e.g. low camera angles, get in real close with a macro lens, or use a very shallow depth of field.
It's amazing what you can do with Digital Cameras these days. Those pictures are so clear that you can almost touch the flowers.
ReplyDeleteIt's more about using a tripod and knowing your gear, not so much about digital cameras Robert ... glad you like the flower photography images from my gallery and the photo tips too! My best,
ReplyDeleteJuergen
Goodness, color shades of the spring flowers are very much detailed. It took a crash course in basic photography, and as I can remember, it's all about larger aperture so that even the littlest details can be captured (if possible) to get the exact color match of the flowers.
ReplyDeleteThanks Gerldine! A large aperture (small f-stop like f/5.6) will provide limited depth of field while a small aperture (high f-stop like f/22) will provide maximum depth of field. That said there is a fine balance of setting the right exposure for brilliant colors and the right amount of depth of field. The goal should always be to keep the focus on the flower and blur out the background. Glad you like the flower photography images in this blog post! Greetings, Juergen
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing all these tips, recently I have been playing and experimenting quite a bit with different settings and I have captured some macro beauty by using some of these tips. Thanks so much, great tips.
ReplyDeleteHi Margaret ~ thanks so much for your wonderful comment on my flower photography and photo tips in this blog post here. So glad you enjoyed the floral pictures and the photo tips inspire and are helpful! My best, Juergen
ReplyDelete