Flower Pictures - How To Make Them
Everybody likes flowers. And I think flowers are probably one of the most popular subjects for making pictures. Actually, I must confess I am one of those people myself.
Well, when I was young and hellbent on becoming a great Artist, I went to great lengths to avoid such “trivial” subjects as flowers! Nay, I took photographs of rotting logs and storm drains, all in black-and-white, and made really dark and gloomy prints from those shots. The gloomier, the more “artistic”!
Nowadays, at a more mature age, I am a bit easier on myself and simply snap pictures of stuff that I find interesting and uplifting. Like the roses in the picture above, which I made while visiting my favorite public garden, in the medieval town of Visby, Sweden.
So - how do you make pictures of flowers? OK, I can only speak for myself but here are some of my personal rules:
1. Avoid Direct Sunlight Like the Plague!
A somewhat provocative statement, right? Yet I find it is true in the vast majority of cases. For instance, the rose picture above was snapped just before sunset, when the sun was so low that it didn’t reach those roses. And about 99% of all successful flower shots I’ve ever made were done in a similar fashion: either near sunset and in the shade, or during overcast (cloudy) days.
2. Find a Neutral and Unobtrusive Background!
When I make pictures of such flowers as roses and peonies, I usually use the green leaves of the plant as background. Done right, this results in a nice neutral and subdued backdrop for those showy flowers.
Now, some flowers are not of the large showy type, but more small and gentle, and may need some company for best effect. Also, they might need a different angle - you may have to get down on your knees to make friends with them!
One modest example of the latter type is these Fritillarias, which grow in a meadow by a river, close to where I live. On that particular day in May, the weather was slightly overcast - perfect for flower pictures!
OK, note how I did this: I picked out a small group of these flowers and made sure I had a fairly neutral, uncluttered, backdrop for them. And to get a shallow depth of field I used the largest aperture my digicam could offer - this served to further minimize any distractions in the background by blurring it. Only one of the flowers is in focus, the remaining two serve a supportive role in the composition.
You can also use the sky as background for your flower shots - as in the nice example here, by “blhphotography“. It is one of the more creative flower pictures I have seen, shot with an extreme wide-angle lens.
Another method, which I don’t recommend, is to put a piece of cardboard with a neutral color behind your flowery subject! The problem with this is, in my opinion, that it gives an un-natural result. If you need total control like that, then pick the flowers and put them in a vase, in a studio!
3. Get Uncomfortable!
As I said earlier, flowers are a much loved subject for picture-making. I’d say they are almost loved to death! One problem with making flower images that are more than just boring snapshots is that these creatures often are fairly small, and tend to grow in the company of various other plants. Therefore, you often have to make some effort, by contorting your body in various ways, to get the camera into an optimal position. This does take a bit of dedication - suffering for the sake of a great result!
