Photographing Flowers

One of the less stressful ways of practicing photography is to take pictures of the flowers in your own garden or vicinity. There is absolutely no pressure from people, no need to worry about the subject posing, or the consenting nod to take the picture.

Having said that, photographing a flower is not as simple as it may sound. There are several other factors that come into play. Firstly, there is the question of the wind. Then there is the lighting, is it soft light or is the sun directly overhead and too harsh. Are there shadows?

Then there is the flower itself….is it a complete flower without any blemishes? Are all the petals intact? Is the color the same all round, or is it faded in areas? Has it been attacked by insects? In normal circumstances these are not issues that we tend to worry too much about, but when you decide on making a flower your subject, it suddenly becomes the focus of everyone’s attention, so you might as well chose one which is as close to perfect as possible. I have often even tried to spray water on a flower to clean it before making the shot so that the blemishes are minimized.

You also have to take into account the setting or the location of the flower. Is it at ground level, or higher up? Is it isolated, or along with several other flowers? Can you get a clear frame of the flower without getting too much clutter into the picture?

Again, consider the color of the flower, and the background that it is in. Is there any way in which you could change the angle or the perspective so that the beauty of the flower stands out even more than before? Look around, see the various colors and textures that are available, and then decide which one would do most justice to the flower.

Lastly, try to be as much in harmony with nature as possible. The world around us is amazingly beautiful, try to keep it that way. Don’t break branches, stems and other plants in order to get the shot that you want…dont destroy or damage nature.  If you look around, you will come across what you are looking for, you just need to be a little more persevering.  Enjoy nature while you do your photography.