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Ten Practical Tips for Macro Flower

Photography
AUG 17, 2021 POSTED BY: DOĞUŞHAN BALCI
FLOWER PHOTOGRAPHY,  MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY,  PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS

Flowers are the best subjects for macro photography because owers 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 owers.

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 ash with a di user for
softer light. So, let’s get started.

1. Shoot in the morning or evening:

The best time for shooting owers 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.

2. Choose a clam day:

For macro photography of owers, always choose a windless day. If the wind is very strong and
fast, the owers will move rapidly and you will have a problem with focusing and getting a
sharp shot. If you have to click pictures of owers on a windy day because you are free on that
day only, go to a orist shop, buy some owers and take shots inside the home.

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3. 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 di erent background.

4. Depth of eld:

Depth of eld is essential in macro photography. When we shoot tiny subjects, we get a very
thin depth of eld 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 eld. It’ll give
you a deeper depth of eld but in this case, you need a lot of light, so using a ash 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 sun ower at 45 degrees angle, the chances are that you won’t get the entire
ower in focus but if you shoot the same ower at ninety degrees angle, you will get
everything in focus because it’s in the same focal plane.

5. 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.

6. Shoot in RAW:

Always shoot in RAW because RAW les 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 x 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 le.

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.

7. Try di erent angles:

We usually take pictures of the owers from the top or side, but sometimes the backside of the
owers can also be beautiful and interesting. So, always check your subject from a di erent
point of view. You never know, you might nd something which others can’t nd and you come
up with some extraordinary pictures. A good photographer’s job is to nd and click something
which normal people couldn’t see.

8. Don’t ignore dead owers:

Fresh owers always look good and we try to take pictures of them, but in macro photography,
even dead owers can be a very good subject. When the life of a ower ends, the petals fall
and it starts preparing seeds so that more beautiful owers 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.

9. Keep a spray bottle:

You must agree that after the rain, everything starts looking even more beautiful. Grass starts
looking greener, owers start looking more colorful. The raindrops on owers or leaves make
them vivid and that’s the best time to capture them.

Well, you can create the same e ect with just a simple household item. When you go for
macro photography, always carry a water spray bottle. When you nd a beautiful ower, take
some shots and then spray some water on it and take another shot. You’ll be amazed at what
di erence it’ll make in your photographs.

10. Practice and patience:

And the last but the most important tip is “shoot a lot”. Macro photography is a di cult genre of
photography that requires lots of practice and patience. However, the good thing about it is
that you can do it any time you want as you don’t need to create complicated set-ups and
subjects are available almost everywhere. If you are serious about macro photography, make it
a practice to click at least 10 shots every day and within a few months, you’ll be an expert
macro photographer.

I hope this article will help you to take amazing macro photographs and polish your skills. Good
luck and keep clicking.

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Related Article 1: The Ultimate Guide to Insect Macro Photography

Related Article 2: The Beginners Guide to Macro Food Photography

Related Article 3: Equipments You Need For Macro Photography

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) co ee table books. Get
his latest book Mastering High-Speed Photography.

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