The photography of plants and flowers It can be really frustrating, you find a beautiful specimen, worth admiring and showing, and you capture it with your camera. When you get home and download the image to your computer you realize that all the beauty has vanished, why?…
This is one of the great frustrations of the photographer, especially in the beginning. But don’t worry, in this blog we work to avoid warming your head. In today’s article I will tell you the secrets to get the most beautiful and impressive photos of plants. And if what you want is to go deeper into nature photography, this is our most complete guide, with tips, tricks and a lot of inspiration.
- Equipment for photographing plants and flowers
- Where to photograph plants and flowers
- When to photograph plants and flowers
- How to photograph plants and flowers
- Curiosities about plant photography
- Useful Links for Plant Photography
- You and the environment when photographing plants and flowers
1. Equipment for photographing plants and flowers
In addition to a camera preferably with Manual Mode, you will need the following equipment. They are not essential accessories, but they will help you achieve more impressive and creative photos.
Objectives to photograph plants
The ideal lenses to achieve the best photos of plants would be a macro, a telephoto and a wide angle. (If you have doubts about the types of lenses or what you should take into account when buying one, for example, use this mega-guide)
- Telephoto: It will serve to isolate your specimen from the background, leaving the latter completely blurred and highlighting the plant. See how the background blurs with the tele.
Flowers captured with a telephoto lens
- Macro: a plant is an ideal subject for any macro lens. Generally with a normal lens you will not be able to focus at a distance less than 50cm (approx.), but thanks to this type of lens you will be able to focus at really small distances, being able to highlight all the small details of the body of the flower or plant. With the macro you can capture all its minuscule details. Look at the following example. (If you don’t have a macro lens and can’t or don’t want to invest in one, for whatever reason, you’ll be interested to know that there are some cheaper alternatives out there.)
Flower photographed with a macro lens
- wide angle: when it is a field of flowers that you want to capture, you need a wide angle to be able to capture more of the scene. Around 14-18mm can be a good option.
These are the ones that are considered ideal, but the good news is that they are not the only ones with which you can take pictures of plants or flowers. Here are two examples of flowers photographed with a 24mm and a 50mm.
Don’t let the goal stop you. If you can’t choose, take photos with the one you have. It can determine what kind of photos you take, but it should never limit you when it comes to taking photos of what you like.
Tripod
One of the main problems that arise when taking photos of plants is trepidation (or what is the same, that the image comes out moved). To avoid this effect, it is best to use a tripod (if you are thinking of buying one, I recommend that you read this guide with purchase advice and recommendations).
The ideal for these cases is one that has an easy articulation and that can be adjusted at a low level, at the same level as the plant.
A trick, for very low or small plants you can support your camera in a bag or sack filled with rice or similar. (Check out this DIY photography article to learn how to make a homemade tripod and other accessories.)
And if, in addition, you shoot with the timer or with a remote trigger, You will avoid any movement, no matter how small, produced by pressing the button. Alternatively, you can use remote shooting via the mobile app.
Flash
It will be of great help when there is not enough light or to fill in the shadows when the opposite happens, that the light is very intense. The internal flash does not usually give very good results, if you have no choice but to use it, I recommend that you diffuse its light by wrapping it with a white tissue, for example.
If you have the option of using an external flash, all the better. In macro photography, the most used is the ring. But this is if you like macro and/or plant photography so much that you don’t mind investing in something very specific.
reflectors
They serve to fill in the shadows and bring light where it does not come naturally. You can use the typical reflectors or get hold of aluminum foil, the inside of a tetrabrick or white cardboard, to give a few examples; any object that reflects light will do.
Cardboard
The background is very important, we will talk about it later, but take note because a cardboard, white, black or a color that harmonizes or contrasts with that of your plant, can get you out of more than one hurry.
Where to photograph plants and flowers
If you want to find exotic specimens like these, you will have to travel to New Zealand or Canada.
- Trumpets of the Eastern USA and Canada
- Giant New Zealand Fern
However, you don’t have to travel that far to get photos of exotic or native plants. Is there a Botanical Garden in your city or country? In places like this you will find an immense variety of plants without the need to travel or search through the countryside for rare or showy specimens.
You can also use a nursery, a florist or a university faculty with botany subjects that have gardens for study. This carnivorous plant was photographed in a Botanical Garden.
When to photograph plants and flowers
By now you will know how important light is in photography and, in this sense, you should also know that a very sunny and cloudless day is not exactly the best time to capture images of plants.
Why? Because this type of light causes a lot of shadows and brightness that cause details of what we want to photograph to be lost. Contrary to what you might imagine, for this theme and for what plants are normally expected to transmit, a cloudy day is much more appropriate in which the light is much softer and will be distributed much more evenly. If you want to know what I mean by hard light and soft light, take a look at this graph and the following images:
And it is that one and another light transmit very different sensations. Look at the following two images and think about what each of them transmits to you.
diffuse light hard light
By their nature, never better said 😉, plants and flowers look better with a soft light that helps transmit that peace and calm that plants usually bring.
This does not mean that you cannot achieve great results with a hard light, everything will depend on the drama you want to give to your image or what you want to convey.
Other times that are not advisable at all are windy days, as it is one of the biggest enemies of this type of photography. Any movement caused by the air will spoil your photo. If necessary, to combat it you can use a mat or cardboard to protect your plant from the wind. Another trick is to shoot in a burst and then discard the shots that don’t work for you. This is useful if the wind is not very strong and constant, of course.
And even if you have your doubts, rainy days can be a good opportunity. If you don’t believe me, read this article with tips for photographing in the rain to convince you or look at the following photograph.
Flower photo in the rain
The best times to photograph plants
In summary, the best times to take photography of plants and flowers are:
- At dawn: It is one of the perfect moments for several reasons. First, it’s not windy, your biggest enemy when photographing plants. Second, the light is perfect, you will get soft lighting without the need to fill in the annoying shadows that you would get in the middle of the day. Third, it is very likely that you can take advantage of the dew drops that give the flowers a special shine.
- A cloudy day: all day you can shoot without worrying about the light being too harsh and creating the annoying shadows we mentioned earlier.
- After it rained: You won’t have to get up early to find dew on the flowers and you just might find yourself with a gift from heaven called rainbows.
- At sunset on a sunny day: If you take the photos at sunset, you will obtain wonderful backlights where the silhouette of the plant stands out, the transparency of the petals of a flower, or you will achieve golden reflections on the edges of the plants, achieving a beautiful effect.
How to photograph plants and flowers
Next, we are going to dive into how to photograph plants, through recommended settings, composition and some very simple but effective tricks.
Settings for photography of plants and flowers
Although each circumstance and each type of photo requires certain parameters, and there is no secret formula, these are the settings that we recommend you start from when photographing plants and flowers:
- Shooting mode. Photography in Manual Mode or Aperture Priority Mode.
- Opening. Use a large aperture if you want to blur the background or, what is the same, a small depth of field. If you’re looking to photograph a field of flowers or several plants that look sharp, you’ll need to use a higher f/number. If you are still not very clear about all this, do not miss this video:
- Shutter speed. If it’s windy, you’ll have to resort to high speeds. If you go into creative mode, you can shoot slow speeds to shoot movement. The trick to getting sharp photos is to always use the 1/focal length formula. That is, with a 200mm focal length, the ideal is to photograph at least 1/200s.
- ISO. Shoot with a low ISO value to achieve better sharpness. If you need more light, better modify speed and aperture. If you don’t mind noise for the type of image you want, don’t be afraid to raise the ISO.
- RAW format. To get the best out of your shot, definitely shoot in RAW. If you are going to go beyond editing, then better in JPEG.
- If you use an SLR and you have the option, block the mirror so that when getting up it does not produce trepidation.
- Stabilizer. When you do not use a tripod, it is recommended that you activate it. Now, with the tripod, it is better to deactivate it or it will reduce sharpness.
- Light measurement. With homogeneous lights you can use evaluative or center-weighted metering. In the event that you photograph with high contrast of light looking for dramatic or high contrast images, better spot metering.
- Approach. Simple focus and focus priority. If you have trouble focusing on auto, try manual instead.
Composition in plant photography
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