How to Photograph Flowers in your Garden
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If you spend time growing flowers in your garden, it’s only natural to want to photograph them when they’re looking their best. Perhaps it’s a rose that has finally opened, a patch of spring bulbs, or simply a flower caught in particularly good light.
The good news is that you don’t need an expensive camera to take better flower photographs. Modern smartphones are surprisingly capable, and a few simple changes to the way you use light, backgrounds and composition can make a much bigger difference than buying more equipment. Dig in to this handy guide for tips that make a difference.
Photograph flowers in soft light
Bright sunshine might seem like the obvious choice for garden photography, but it can actually make flowers harder to photograph.
Strong midday sun creates deep shadows and very bright highlights, particularly on pale pink, yellow and white petals. Once those lighter areas become completely white in a photograph, the detail can be difficult or impossible to recover.
Early morning and later afternoon are often easier times to work. The softer light reveals more of the texture and shape of petals without creating such harsh contrast.
Don’t overlook cloudy days either. A layer of cloud acts rather like a huge diffuser, producing soft, even light which can work beautifully for flower photography.
Early morning also has the bonus of occasional natural dew on petals and leaves, adding another layer of detail without having to stage the photograph.
Change your viewpoint
One of the easiest ways to improve a flower photograph is simply to change your height.
Most of us see garden flowers while standing up, so photographing straight down at them tends to reproduce a very familiar view. Instead, crouch down and try photographing the flower at its own level.
Once you’re there, move around it. Try a photograph from slightly below, from the side and, where the shape of the flower suits it, directly overhead.
You may find that moving only a small distance completely changes the picture. Different angles alter both the light on the flower and what appears behind it.
Look beyond the flower
It’s very easy to concentrate so closely on the flower that you don’t notice everything else in the photograph.
Plant labels, fences, wheelie bins, washing lines, brightly coloured pots and other garden clutter can suddenly become surprisingly prominent once you look at the finished image.
Before pressing the shutter, look around the edges of the screen as well as at your main subject. Moving a few centimetres to one side can be enough to replace a distracting background with green foliage, a shaded hedge or an area of simple colour.
Portrait mode on a smartphone can also help soften a busy background, but check the result carefully. Phones sometimes struggle to recognise the fine edges of petals, stems and leaves, producing unnatural patches of blur around them.
Fill the frame
Flowers reward a closer look. Rather than immediately reaching for your phone’s digital zoom, move physically closer to the flower whenever you can. Digital zoom usually enlarges the existing image rather than capturing additional detail, so image quality can fall quite quickly.
On a smartphone, tap the part of the flower that you want to be sharp before taking the picture. If your phone has a dedicated macro mode, experiment with that too.
It’s worth taking more than one type of photograph. Start with an image showing the whole bloom or plant, then move in for a second frame concentrating on something smaller.
Try this: photograph the complete flower first, then make another image just of the petal structure, stamens, water droplets or texture. The close-up may turn out to be the more interesting photograph.
Check sharpness before you move on
Flowers have an unfortunate habit of moving just as you take the picture. Hold your phone or camera with both hands and, if possible, brace yourself against something solid. If there’s a breeze, wait a few seconds for a calmer moment rather than trying to photograph a flower that’s constantly moving. It’s also a good idea to take several frames rather than relying on one.
Before leaving the plant, enlarge one of the photographs on your screen and check that the important part of the flower is actually sharp. A picture can look perfectly crisp when viewed small on a phone but disappoint once you see it on a larger screen.
Give the flower some space
Good composition doesn’t need to involve complicated rules. One useful starting point is to avoid automatically placing every flower exactly in the middle of the photograph. Try positioning it slightly to one side and leaving some space around it.
If a stem bends or a flower head naturally leans in one direction, leaving more room on that side can make the composition feel more balanced.
Tall flowers and individual stems often work particularly well in a vertical photograph, while groups of flowers, borders and wider garden views may suit a horizontal frame. Take both if you’re unsure. It only takes a few seconds and gives you considerably more choice later, particularly if you decide to frame or print the photograph.
Keep the colour believable
Editing can improve a photograph, but flowers are also very easy to over-edit. Small adjustments to brightness, contrast, cropping and perhaps the shadows are often all that’s needed. Strong filters and very high saturation can quickly make natural flower colours look unrealistic.
This is particularly noticeable with reds, purples and vivid pinks, which can already be challenging for cameras and phones to reproduce accurately.
Pro tip: Always keep the original photograph too. You can create another edited version, but you can’t easily undo an edit if you’ve overwritten the original file.
Turning a favourite garden photograph into wall art
Occasionally you’ll take a garden photograph that deserves to live somewhere other than your phone.
If you think you might print it, keep the original, highest-resolution file produced by your phone or camera. Avoid sending a screenshot or a version downloaded from social media, as these will contain far less image information than the original.
Think about the shape of the finished print before making a tight crop. A photograph that works perfectly on a phone screen may need cropping differently for a standard frame or larger wall print.
It’s also worth asking your chosen printer about the recommended image dimensions and resolution for the size you want. If you’re uncertain whether an image is sharp enough for a large print, ordering something smaller first is a sensible test.
Some photo labs worth looking at include CEWE, DS Colour Labs and Photobox, all of which allow you to upload your own image and choose from different print options.
Learning from professional flower photographers
Image credit: Dancing Rudbekia by Jacky Parker, part of the Fotoviva flower wall art collection.
Professional flower photographers may use specialist lenses, lighting and years of experience, but many of the basic principles remain exactly the same: carefully chosen light, uncluttered backgrounds, accurate focus and close attention to small details.
Looking at professional work can be particularly useful for studying composition. Notice where the flower sits within the frame, how much background has been included and how light and colour separate the subject from its surroundings. Then try applying the same thinking to the plants growing in your own garden.
Keep photographing what you grow
The simplest way to improve your flower photography is to keep doing it.
Photograph the same plants at different times of day, in different weather and from several angles. A flower that looks fairly ordinary from standing height can become a completely different photograph when you get down to its level or concentrate on one small detail.
Take more photographs than you think you need, keep the original files and review your favourites on a larger screen afterwards. Your garden already provides an ever-changing supply of subjects – you just need to start looking at them a little differently.
