Teaching Yourself Photography

I love floral photography.  But, I’ve learned it’s harder than it looks to take the perfect picture.  Knowing what settings to use on your camera, what kind of background looks the best, and what angle to take the shot at.  It’s tricky.  So, I’m going to share all my floral tricks and tips that I’ve learned over the past 5 months.

First, play around with your camera.  Most, have a floral or flower setting that blurs the background and leaves the flower in perfect clarity.  Like this one! 🙂

Now, I’ll show you some of my pictures that I’ve taken and I’ll tell you the pros and cons of each one!  Looking through my pictures and figuring out what looks best in each has really helped me develop a better eye and it will help you too.

Here is a close up of a rose.  You can see each petal, the different colors, and  there is not much of a background so the rose is the main focus.

This hibiscus is not a straight-on shot making it unique, the sunlight hitting the petals make for vibrant colors, and the blue sky and blurred leaves make for a good background.

This is a close up of a palm tree.  It has lots of details, is in focus, and I like the fact that it’s off center.  But, the background is white.  If I had taken this picture during sunset or with a blue sky it would have been more interesting.

This is the underside of a hibiscus.  You can see the bright yellow of the flower and a good blue sky background.  However, the white building takes away from the main focus of the flower.

These yellow flowers look like their are high in the sky.  But actually, I took the picture from underneath the plant to give it this effect.

This is some overlapping palm fronds.  I loved the way the sunlight showed the layers so clearly.  but, once again this picture would be TONS better if it had a blue sky background.

This vibrant orange flower is in clear focus, the slightly blurred background gives a good effect, and the leaves give the picture that extra something.

The perspective of this unique hibiscus gives the picture something special and the lighting through the flower gives another good effect.  However, the background wasn’t the best.

This flower is in perfect condition, the light shining of the petals is amazing, and the background fading into blackness is great!

This bird of paradise has light shining through its petals making for a good picture and the blurred background of the ocean is good.  If the flower had been in better condition this would be an amazing shot.

These flowers are in good condition, the shadow effect is AMAZING, and the background is alright.  This is a pretty good shot.

So, in a floral picture some things to remember are:

Try to find a floral setting on your camera or play around with the different settings till you find the right one.

Make sure your background isn’t to busy.  Or, your flower won’t be the main focus.

Avoid white or faded backgrounds.

Try to make sure your flower is in good condition.

And, take your camera with you everywhere, I do!  Play around with different perspectives and angles until you find what works best for you.