Top 20 Most Photogenic Garden Flowers
Flowers are probably the most photogenic and colourful subjects in the world of horticulture. In this, the second part in my series of posts on the Art of Flower and Garden Photography, I have compiled a list of what I feel are the Top 20 Photogenic Garden Flowers to help you get started in this most satisfying genre of photography.
Where to Begin
A test of a good flower photographer is the ability to capture the subjects in their natural surroundings. There is no substitute for natural light and outdoor locations when photographing flowers. Just as some of the greatest animal photographs are not those taken in zoos or against fake backgrounds, the same is true for flower photography. Photographs of flowers taken in the natural beauty of their outdoor surroundings is by far superior to those posed awkwardly against artificial backgrounds or flooded with artificial lighting.
One of the delights of flower photography is that your subject is easily accessible. From local parks, gardens and arboretums, to garden centres, nurseries and commercial growers, all offer the photogapher a wealth of subjects.
When photographing flowers in public or private gardens, you do need to respect the immense amount of work the gardeners have put into preparing the ground and planting the specimens. Tread carefully (literally), obey any requlations and ask permission where necessary. Do not under any cirumstance pick specimens in the hope of taking them home.
Getting Started:
- Search out perfect specimens in peak condition.
- Find a stimulating setting with the light falling just right.
- Find a background showing off the perfection of the flower.
- Be meticulous in searching through acres of flowers. Seek out the one flower that outshines all the rest.
- Ruthlessly ignore the humdrum and mediocre shots.
- Be prepared to return to the same spot a little earlier the following year to get the perfect shot.
Top 20 List of Photogenic Garden Flowers
Some garden flowers are more photogenic than others. Some are so appealing that the canny photogapher can easily earn a small income by concentrating on plants such as orchids, cacti and roses.
The following list of photogenic flowers is based both on visual appeal and potential demand from picture buyers.
- Amaryllis
- Begonias
- Cactus
- Chrysanthemums
- Clematis
- Daffodils
- Dahlias
- Daylilies
- Hydrangeas
- Irises
- Lilies
- Orchids
- Peonies
- Poppies
- Rhodedendrons
- Roses
- Sunflowers
- Tulips
- Waterlilies
- Zannias
Other flowers include bromeliads, camellias, hallebores, fuchsias, gladiolus, hibiscus, primroses and proteas.
The key to successful flower photography is knowing the flowering dates for the most photogenic flowers and knowing where to find them.
Flower photography is a year-round activity. It requires patience and commitment on the part of the photographer.
Top Tips:
- On cloudy days, tulip blooms tend to stay partially closed, giving an urn-shape. In bright light the flowers open out like a waterlily, giving a greater density of colour to an image.
- Fields of mass plantings make great calendar photographs. This is especially so if there is a barn or old farmhouse in the background. Try using a telephoto lens to help fill the frame with plants.
- Try filling the frame with an avalanche of red poppies cascading down a hill or mountain slope.
If you have any tips on photographic garden flowers, please feel free to add a comment below and share your ideas.
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Tweet ThisThe Art of Flower and Garden Photography
From stately gardens to fields of wildflowers, from a single bloom to panoramic views. Do you enjoy photographing the beauty of flowers and gardens? Have you dreamed of creating flower and garden photographs as stunning as those used in gardening and home magazines?
In this series of articles, I shall introduce you to some of the basic skills and technniques used in capturing images of plants and flowers, from what equipment to use to the best way of photographing flowers, gardens, trees, grand landscapes and indoor plants.
In the first part, Getting Started, I shall introduce you to the equipment you will need and to some of the basic principles you can use to start capturing stunning flower and garden photographs.
Colour Changes in Natural and Artificial Light
Perhaps the most important lesson to begin with when photographing outdoors is that natural daylight can change in an instant. When a cloud obscures the sun the colours will change. For example, changes from sunny to cloudy skies can turn the bright greens in trees and leaves dark. It can also produce a cool, blue cast in your images.
As with film, the image sensors in digital cameras have been optimized for mid-day light. This means, if you are looking for true colours in your images you will need to seek out natural daylight found between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. in the summer for the best results.
However, if you are adopting a more creative approach to your flower and garden photography, light at other times of the day may be more suitable and offer the preferred effect - especially dawn and dusk.
When shooting indoor plants under artificial light, you will need to determine whether the artificial light source is incandescent, daylight or flourescent bulbs, and select the appropriate white balance setting on your camera. More on selecting the correct white balance for an image later.
Coping with Contrast
Today’s digital cameras are capable of capturing a wide range of tones very well. However, they cannot record extremes of both dark or light areas within the same frame adequately enough. If the light is fairly even, the image will show acceptable overall detail. But if the scene is high-contrast, such as woodlands with dappled light, it is difficult to capture enough detail in both areas.
When shooting under high-contrast conditions, you will need to decide whether to expose the image for the dark, shadowy areas or for the brighter sunlit areas. For example, when taking photographs in a woodland or forest with dark floor and bright overhead tree canopy, you would need to expose the image for the dark floor and allow the brightly lit canopy to be overexposed.
Using Light Meters
Most digital cameras have built-in light meters that accurately measure the light passing through the lens and read the amount of light reaching the image sensor. Generally, this makes the use of separate handheld light meters unnecessary.
There are times when compensation may be needed for a good exposure. For example, if the subject is surrounded by an extremely bright sky, a built-in TTL metering system measuring the full frame may produce a dark image. In such a situation, using the camera’s spot metering mode will direct the camera to measure the light on the smaller area rather than on the surrounding sky.
The camera’s built-in TTL meter can also be fooled by ‘glare’. A brightly lit beach or a snow scene may result in underexposure. In this case, you will need to compensate by overexposing by as much as 2 stops. If you have a dark object surrounded by white, you will need to compensate for the glare by overexposing by 1 stop.
As an alternative to trusting the camera to make any compensation for glare, it is often a good idea to ‘bracket’ a series of three exposures. For example, shooting a snow scene at 1 stop over the camera’s meter reading, then 1 1/2 stops over, and finally 2 stops over. This should produce at least one well exposed image.
Lenses
There is no one universal lens that is capable of functioning like the human eye. Most digital cameras have lenses that focus from infinity to between two and three feet in clear detail.
- Close-up: To get closer than the two or three feet offered by most digital camera lenses you will need to use a macro lens. These lenses will allow you to get within inches of your subject. An alternative to using a macro lens is a set of close-up extension tubes, which can be mounted between the camera body and the lens, allowing the lens to focus closer. When taking close-up shots, there is very little depth of field. The wider the lens aperture, the shorter this becomes. Generally, it is best to open the lens no wider than f/11 for close-ups of plants and flowers. Although, you can achieve some very creative visual effects by closing the lens right down to f/5.6 or lower so that only a tiny area is in focus.
- Telephoto: Telephoto lenses distort distances between plants and flowers. This is not necessarily the result you want to achieve, as it will result in images in which plants in a scene may appear much closer than they actually are. Alternatively, the dramatic telescoping effect may well be the effect you are looking to achieve.
- Wide angle: Here too, wide angle shots can result in a distorted image. However, a 28mm wide angle lens is particularly useful to show the overall design of a garden. To avoid distortion you will need to shoot from a high elevation.
Accessories
The key to good horticultural photography is simplicity.
- Tripod: It is quite likely that the majority of flower and garden photography is shot using camera mounted on a tripod. When working a shutters speeds of lower than 1/60 second, a tripod is essential to ensure sharp images. Some public gardens do not allow the use of tripoids without a permit. By they may allow monopods.
- Cable release: A cable release allows you to expose an image without touching the camera body. This helps to avoid any movement, whoever slight, that might blur the image.
- Filters: Of the many dozens of filters available, you may want to consider the skylight filter, soft-focus attachment and a polarizer. When shooting in shade, natural light can be too blue. This means that light coloured subjects such as white flowers will photograph with a blue cast. A skylight filter attached to the lens will help record truer colours and screen out UV radiation. Occassionally, you may want to create images of flowers with a soft, diffused, misty effect. These effects are achieved with different types of soft-focus attachments. Finally, using a polarizer eliminates reflected glare and improves scenes in which water is a predominant feature. It removes surface glare so the image sensor can record deep into the water. A polarizer also helps improve dark green foliage. Polarizers are also good for darkening blue sky.
Top Tip: How to Avoid Blurred Images
The most critical quality in any horticultural photograph is sharpness. This is achieved in several ways.
- Narrow focus: Avoid setting the lens on infinity, except for the landscape shots. For sharp focus it is usually best to focus on an object, either in the foreground or middle ground.
- Low ISO: For maximum image quality and sharpness, choose a low ISO. An ISO of 100 will exhibit the least loss of definition when the image is printed.
- Aperture settings: For good depth of field, choose aperture settings such as f/11, f/16, f22 or f/32.
- Know your lenses: Choose the appropriate lens for the job. For overall views, use a standard lens (50mm). For close-up shots use a macro lens.
- Keep lenses clean: Wipe the lens surface with a non-abrasive, lint-free cloth. Never start a shoot without checking your lenses for water spots or smudges. When poking a lens through leaves and flowers, pollen, dust and dew can settle on the lens surface and blur the images.
- Tripod support: For crisp images, or for achieving faster shutter speeds of 1/60 and 1/100 second, use a tripod to support your camera.
That just about covers everything to be getting on with for now. Equipped with the right kit and few basic techniques, you are sure to be able to capture some striking flower and garden images.
Next Time: Top 20 Most Photogenic Garden Flowers
Did you like this? If so, please bookmark it,5 Ways to Photograph Spring Flowers
“April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land.” (T.S. Eliot). It is also one of the most colourful months, filled with great opportunities for the photographer.
Spring is a time of tree blossom and bulbs. There’s always plenty of colour around. So why not try some of these tips to help brighten up your flower photography.
1. Blue Skies
(Image: Tanakawho)
A blue sky in the background will help to enhance the colour of the flower. Use the long end of your zoom lens to fill the frame with the flower. Rather than just pointing your camera at the flower try plucking one and holding it up against a blue sky to get the best of the spring colours.
2. Get Down Low
(Image: madjbug&Astrid)
For some really stunning shots try getting down low for an ‘ant’s eye view’ of the flowers. You might benefit from using the macro setting on your camera if it has one. Try getting a blue sky behind the flowers.
3. Zoom In
(Image: Jenny Downing)
Use the telephoto end of your lens and a wide aperture, and zoom in on one flower. Fill the frame with colour. Letting the flowers behind go out of focus will give you a nicely softened background.
4. Fill the Frame
(Image: Jenny Downing)
Go in close to the flower. Filling the frame is a sure way of creating an image with impact. This tends to work best against a neutral bcakground. Be sure to focus carefully on the centre of the flower.
5. Still Life
(Image: Zevotron)
Pick up some flowers from the store and put them in a vase. Bringing flowers indoors gives you more control over the light. Place them on a table in front of a large window. For best results, wait for a bright overcast day. The diffused light will produce a very satisfying result. Try putting the vase of flowers in front of a neutral background for a simple, but effective still life. You could also try shooting them as part of a scene and show them in context.
Did you like this? If so, please bookmark it,7 Ways to Find Inspiration for Your Photography
We’ve all heard of writer’s block, those endless hours of staring at a blank page, hoping for the faintest spark of an idea. Photographers are no less susceptible to periods of creative drought or feeling stuck in a rut. So, what do we do?
Here are some quick-fire tips I have found helpful in findng inspiration and restarting the creative juices.
1. Read, Read, Read
The internet is full of blogs, websites and forums dedicated to the art and craft of photography, so you’re sure to find some inspiration here.
- The Photo Forum -discussion groups, monthly photo theme, articles, tips.
- Digital Photography Review - an online photography forum established in 1999. A place to discuss, ask questions, debate on photography.
- Coolphotoblogs
2. Look and Learn
The growth of digital photography and the internet has seen an explosion of photo sharing sites and interest in photography in general. By looking at the work of other photographers you’ll soon be reaching for your camera. Sites like Flickr have millions of photos and powerful search facilities.
3. Watch the Pros
Go to the library and pick up some photography books. From ‘how to’ manuals to inspiring coffee table books, you’re sure to find images by some of the world’s greatest photographers which will inspire you. Pay attention to the photography you see elsewhere too. Magazines, Sunday supplements and even advertisements are a great source for photographic inspiration. But most importantly, try to work out what it is you like about the pictures you see. What makes them ’stand out’? Then try to apply the same ideas to your own shots.
4. Keep a Daybook
Artists do it. Novelists do it. So why not photographers? It’s a great way of getting ideas down on paper. From something as simple as a note on a location worth visiting to pages and pages of drafts, revisions and proofs of a project in progress, the Daybook is the place to put everything filed under ‘photography’.
5. Set Yourself a Challenge
Try setting yourself a really ridiculous challenge. Take 100 shots in an hour. Take a photo every single day, from the same spot. Pick a simple theme and take 50 photos. Create a series of self-portraits on a theme. The list is endless. By forcing yourself to think creatively you’ll produce some interesting shots.
6. Have a Day Out
A change is as good as a rest, they say. So why not plan a trip to the countryside (if you live in the city) or the city (if you live in the suburbs) simply to take pictures.
7. Break the Rules
Develop your compositional skills by shooting the most ordinary things and the people around you in unusual and unexpected ways. Break every rule in the book. Do the opposite. Shoot into the light; slow down the shutter speed while handholding the camera; turn the camera upside down. The list is endless. Anyone can get a great shot of a landscape; getting a memorable shot of a playground swing takes a bit more skill. You may never use any of the photos, but at least you had fun unblocking yourself from a visual rut.
What tips would you give someone looking for inspiration? What has worked well for you? What hasn’t? Share you experience and ideas on finding inspiration for taking digital images below.
Did you like this? If so, please bookmark it,How to Create Studio-Style Portraits With a Compact Digital Camera
There are two reasons why most snapshot portraits of family and friends can turn out unsatisfactory. First, the on-camera flash creates strong shadows and hightlights every flaw and blemish in the subject’s face. Second, the wrong zoom setting gives a distorted perspective. Both these faults are easily fixed. In this post I will show you two simple ways to create studio-style portraits with your compact digital camera.
Light
The on-camera flash on most digital cameras is never very flattering. It shows up the blemishes in the person’s face, creates harsh shadows and creates red-eye. Studio portrait photographers use one or more flash heads on stands with ’soft boxes’ to diffuse the light. For the ‘Home Studio’ all you need is an overcast day. Sit your subject beside a large window so they are slightly facing the daylight. Ideally, your subject should sit in front of a neutral background. This should generally be white. Sit them in a dining chair to promote better posture. If you think the other side of their face looks a little too dark, you can use a large sheet of while card to bounce some daylight back onto them. It’s as simple as that!
Zoom
The best results are achieved by using the telephoto end of your camera’s lens. For example, if your compact digital camera has a 3x zoom you should step backwards and use the longest zoom setting. If your camera has a longer zoom setting (eg. 5x or more) then aiming for the halfway point will give you good results. Setting your camera lens to a longer focal length in this way will give your portraits a more flattering perspective.
Quick Tips:
- Generally, it is best not to ask your subject to ‘pose’ for the camera, unless they are very confident.
- Keep talking to them.
- Suggest where they should place their head and where to look.
- Keep framing tightly. The head and neck are usually enough.
- Always focus on the eyes.
- Use focus locking by half-pressing the shutter and re-framing.
- Use the widest possible aperture to minimise depth-of-field.
- Keep your camera level with your subject’s eyes.
- Take lots of shots.
- Check the results every so often in the LCD.
- Expect to spend about an hour capturing your shots. The best ones tend to happen towards the end of a shoot.
Shooting People: 6 Ways to Improve Your Street Photography
During my photography class last week, one of my students suggested street photography relies heavily on serendipity. He is quite right. Being in the right place at the right time certainly makes a difference to the type and quality of street images you capture.
Apart from the usual tips on traveling light, looking for ‘behind the scenes’ images off the tourist track, seeking out street performers and looking for new angles on familiar subjects, there are several ways in which you can improve your street photography. What follows are six basic techniques which, I hope, will help you capture serendipitous moments in your street photography.
1. Stolen Moments
flickr
One skill worth developing is the ability to anticipate moments between people before they happen. By keeping ours eyes open and getting a feel for the way people interact, we can often capture images with real emotion.
2. In The Background
by tonythemisfit
Sometimes, what’s going on in the background can really make a picture stand out. Look out for billboards, graffiti, street signs and signs in shop windows. They can all help make a bold statement in a photograph.
3. In Your Face
by thatsplenty
There are times when it pays to go in close. Filling the foreground can add to the impact of an image.
4. Into the Sun
by guynameddave
We usually try not to shoot into the sun and avoid the shadows that direct sunlight can produce. In street photography, breaking these ‘rules’ can sometimes lead to great shots.
5. Frozen Motion
by toddwshaffer
Streets are great places to capture movement. To do this successfully, you will need to use a shutter speed of at least 1/125 of a second. You may also need to increase the ISO to 400. But why not capture movement as a blur. Slow the shutter speed down and experiment with the different effects this gives.
6. Return Visit
by tainted dream
Street photography does not always need to be spontaneous. If you find a place which inspires you, there is no reason why you can’t return again and again until you capture the shots you’re after. Returning to the same place also opens up the opportunity of capturing a sequence of images over a period of time, each of which might have something different to say.
Further Reading:
What tips would you give someone looking to improve their street photography? What has worked well for you? What hasn’t? Share your experience and ideas on capturing street images below.
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‘ByteSize’ Guide to Digital Photography
Over the next few months I shall be posting a series of ‘bite-size’ tips to help you get the most out of your digital camera. From photographing people, buildings and landscapes to how to use colour and different types of light sources.
Each ‘Bytesize’ post will introduce you to some of the basic techniques photographers use to create visually stunning images. I will discuss some of the fundamentals of digital photography, such as exposure, ISO and white balance, and look at the main photographic subjects.
You will also find suggestions on the best equipment and accessories for the job, plus top tips and step-by-step guides on how to get the best out of your compact digital camera or DSLR.
Topics will include:
- How to Photograph People
- How to Photograph Buildings
- How to Photograph Landscapes
- Using Natural Light
- Using Colour
- How to Compose an Image
- Choosing Shutter Speeds
- Understanding ISO
- How to Use the Metering Systems on Your Digital Camera
Think of this as your own personal user’s guidebook filled with ideas and techniques which will help you put the creativity into your photography.
Thanks for dropping by.
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