Flower and Plant Photography: Grab the Best Techniques

There is something about flowers, plants, and their associated flora that makes us stop and appreciate their beauty. Flower and plant photography is a relatively unexplored genre, but it is something only some professional photographers love to do. It allows them to observe the world in a unique way from behind the lens of an SLR camera. The sharpness of details, colors, and the fascinating shapes that the subjects make is one of the most important aspects of this photography type.

The work of a professional flower & plant photographer can be truly amazing but at the same time, it is not always easy to achieve it. So if you are a beginner you might find this article helpful and informative if you are going to start your own individual photo shooting project with flowers and plants.

Flower and Plant Photography Ideas

Flower and Plant photography requires you to be creative in your approach. When shooting these elements, you should always consider the background of the subject. Also, you should shoot in a way that can avoid or minimize any distraction or clutter around the subject you want to capture. Let’s grab some crucial tips to improve the photography techniques in this genre.

Flower Photoshoot Ideas

Let’s start by sharing some essential flower photography ideas to enrich your skills as a beginner. 

• Do your research.
• Pick a venue that has your favorite flowers.
• Take Advantage of Natural Lighting.
• Experiment with props and backgrounds.
• Get Macro Shoots.

Do your Research

If you’re interested in photographing beautiful flowers in the wild, you will have to do a little research. It is quite different from taking photos of flowers in a vase or in a garden. There are several things to consider before going out to take photos of wild flowers. You will have to know what you want to achieve and what species are available. The type of flower that you wish to take is important.

Different flowers have different characteristics and it is important for you to decide this beforehand. Location is also a crucial thing to consider. You will have to find suitable locations like parks, gardens, or nature reserves as long as they are places where flowers grow naturally. This will allow you to get better shots at the right time and angle as well.

You can also use online tools such as Google Maps or other apps that can help you locate nearby sites with beautiful flora and fauna. It will be more convenient than physically going there and taking photos of them at random places without any awareness of your surroundings.

Pick a venue that has your favorite flowers

The first thing to consider when you are choosing a venue for your flower photoshoot is the space of the location and the amount of available space. If you plan on taking close up pictures of flowers or if you want to use a plain backdrop for your photographs, you will not need much room at all. On the other hand, if you want to set up a wedding scene or some other elaborate setting, you will need to find a location that has plenty of open space and adequate lighting.

You should also consider whether or not the location has any particular rules regarding photography. Some locations do not allow any type of photography without special permission, while others may place restrictions on where and how photos can be taken. If you plan on taking photos in a public place, make sure that they are allowed.

It is also very important to have good quality lighting at your chosen location so that your photos turn out well. As mentioned above, some locations do not allow flash photography, but there are others that do. You can take advantage of this by bringing along an external light source such as a spotlight with you or hiring a professional photographer who does.

Take Advantage of Natural Lighting

There is nothing like the perfect lighting to make a beautiful subject shine. The same holds true for flower nature photography and capturing aesthetic pictures. Flowers, with their vibrant colors and intricate petals, are already stunning on their own but light can make all the difference in bringing out the best in them. But getting that “perfect” light may seem tricky at first, especially if you don’t know what to look for. 

One way to improve your flower photography is to take advantage of natural light. In this case, early morning sunlight is best because it’s neutral, and there’s no direct sunlight, so it doesn’t cast shadows. You can get great results when taking flower photographs at this time of day. This can be challenging at times since you may have to shoot outdoors on a bright sunny day with harsh shadows. 

If you are shooting indoors and using natural light, be sure to position your plants near a window where the lighting is even throughout the day. If possible move the plant outside during overcast days or in the shade on sunny days to soften the light from above. Just keep in mind that if you move your plant outdoors that you will need to consider temperature changes (and possibly wind), insects, etc.

Experiment with props and backgrounds

When photographing flowers, it’s always worth experimenting with different props, backgrounds, and perspectives to create the most appealing compositions. This can make a huge difference to the success of an image and is one of the reasons why studio photography of flowers can be so effective – because choosing a specific background or prop adds great context to a subject. 

Try using a vintage tea tin or a small piece of driftwood as a prop on which to rest your flower against. It’s also worth thinking about how you can use contrasting colors as props to really make your flowers stand out from their surroundings.

When it comes to backgrounds, you can use absolutely anything that you think would work well with your flowers. The plainer the background, the more attention will be drawn to your subject. Using a colorful or patterned background can create a really interesting effect because it draws attention away from the flowers. Try experimenting with different colors, patterns, and textures.

Get Macro Shoots

If you love colorful flowers and photographing close up images of nature, it’s time to take your photography to the next level. Macro Flower Photography is a great way to get in touch with nature and capture that natural beauty through the lens of your camera. But what makes this photography genre so special? 

When you view a flower close up, you reveal details that aren’t visible to the naked eye. You can capture textures, colors, and patterns that would otherwise go unnoticed. So, what does it require to gain a fantastic output in photographing macro flower photos? Well! A macro lens (or similar) with a focal length of about 100mm, 1/250s shutter speed, f/8 aperture, and ISO 200-400 will be good settings for starting out.

A tripod is essential for flower photography to ensure that your camera remains stable. This is especially important when using a macro lens as even the slightest movement can result in a blurry photo. Also, a reflector can be used to help eliminate unwanted shadows in your photo when shooting on an overcast day or in the shade. Besides, using a fast shutter speed will capture photos without any motion blur and freeze the action. 

Plant Photoshoot Ideas

Now, we’ll discuss how to photograph plants professionally that are too attached to another one we already mentioned. 

• Try out different angles
• Indoor Garden Photoshoot
• Single plant on a table
• Sunlight through leaves
• Composition and Framing

Try out different angles

To start off, it’s important to understand that there are many different types of plants. Sometimes they can be in the shade and sometimes they can be in the sun. Sometimes they can be on a table, sometimes they can be hanging from the ceiling. Because of the variety, it’s important to understand what you want to capture in a photo and how you want to capture it. Shooting from different angles can bring out the beauty of plants. 

The main thing to remember is not to shoot just one angle, but several. This will give you more options later when you are choosing the best photos for your portfolio. There are two main types of angles that you can shoot a plant: straight angles and oblique angles. Straight angles are very easy to shoot because all you need to do is point your camera at the plant and press the shutter button. 

This technique creates a symmetrical image that looks equally balanced from left to right and top to bottom. It’s an easy and straightforward angle that works great for almost any type of photo composition! However, oblique angles are more difficult because you need to manipulate your camera so that you can capture the subject at an angle that is less than 90 degrees from your perspective as a photographer.

Indoor Garden Photoshoot

If you want to take photos of your indoor garden, remember that there are several things that you should do. Photography is all about capturing light, so lighting is very important when photographing plants. We recommend using large softboxes, which are available from many photographic suppliers. Ordinary reflector umbrellas with a diffuser can be used instead, but they don’t give quite as good results because they produce a harder light. 

This way, you will have great pictures without having to worry about anything. To get tack-sharp photos when photographing an indoor garden, you’ll want to use manual focus instead of autofocus. This is especially important for plants with thin leaves, which can be difficult for an autofocus lens to lock onto accurately. Switching to the manual will let you choose exactly where you want your focus point to be. 

To give your photos a clean and crisp look, you should have a large window or glass doors as your main light source. Set up your camera so it faces the window, and place the plant 1 to 2 feet away from it. You can use a tripod, but we prefer to always shoot handheld when you’re indoors so you can move around more easily.

Single plant on a table

This is one of the most beautiful “Prop” ideas for plants photography. You can use a table or any other kind of surface to shoot. The idea is very simple, and you don’t need a professional studio for this. All you need to do is find a clean table and use white paper as the background. The rest of the things that you need are very simple, and you can easily shoot with them in your home.

Once you have placed the small plant on the table, just spread a white paper sheet below it. You will also need a light source in order to get good exposure to the product. We prefer using natural light because it is free, but if you don’t have enough light coming from your windows, then you can use artificial lighting as well.

You’ll also need a tripod to hold your camera steady while you’re shooting a plant on a table, especially when using lower shutter speeds or higher ISO settings. Using a tripod helps prevent blurry photos caused by the camera shake or movement of your subject during the exposure.

Sunlight Through Leaves

The sun has been used by photographers to provide the main light source in a photo since photography was invented. But what if you want to take a photo of some plant leaves, and you want to capture a beam of sunlight coming through them? Well! It’s not easy, but surely possible. 

The first thing you need to do is find an area where there are lots of leaves on trees, and the sun is shining right behind them. You can use any lens for this shot, but many professionals usually use my 70-200mm lens as it gives me more distance from the trees. This means you can get more of them in focus at once.

If there are lots of plants in an area that is all quite similar then start by taking some shots with them all in focus from front to back. Next, try getting the plant (s) nearest to you into focus, and let others fall out of focus behind them. This will help separate subject from its background. 

Composition and Framing

If you’re a plant photographer, and your primary purpose is to concentrate on photography of plants, you’ll just need to master the basics of composition and framing. 

Composition is the placement of objects in an image. Think about placing items that are nearby in relation to one another. A table with a vase on it will look better if the table is close to the vase than if it’s placed far away from it. If you have a flower arrangement in front of a window, place some other objects behind it so that they frame the arrangement nicely. 

Framing is more subtle but can be just as important to achieving good composition. It can help give depth and perspective to your shots by showing depth between the foreground and background elements. The key here is to use different elements to create both frames around your subject and give depth to them so that your images don’t look like flat pictures.

To Sum Up

When photographing a flower or plant, the leading rule is to place your main focal point on the area of the plant you think is the most interesting. It can be a stem, an individual leaf, a root, etc. Then it’s all about turning off the flash and shooting in manual mode. With a tripod, short exposures, and complete darkness for best results. It’s a lot of fun! 

Last but not least- if you want to sharpen your skills in the flower and plant photography area or learn how to better take photos of flowers and plants, then simply put in the work. Study your favorite photographers and try to analyze their techniques; approach as many different photographers as you can to get feedback; and then just keep shooting. No doubt, it’s worth it.