One of the first things every online photography course for kids covers is how to take stunning photos of flowers. Why? They’re pretty, they’re everywhere, and they present an excellent opportunity to get better at photography.
The season is just right for snapping a bunch of amazing flower photos. With just a little bit of direction, anyone with any camera can become a fantastic flower photographer! They’re the perfect subject—still, quiet, and absolutely beautiful.
Here’s how to use your camera to take the best flower photos possible. Start practicing… Maybe one day we’ll see your photos in National Geographic!
Flowers: Online Photography Course for Kids
Our expert photographers are sharing some of their tips and tricks for those interested in taking amazing flower pictures. This is just a small snapshot of what’s taught in our photography workshop for kids, but it’s a great way to get started.
Flower Photography Settings
It doesn’t matter what kind of camera you have. With just a few tweaks to your settings, you’ll be able to get the best, brightest, and most eye-catching flower photographs possible! Here are some of the things you should check out before taking pics.
Flower Setting
If you’re still getting to grips with your camera settings, you can use the flower setting to automatically set your camera to the right numbers for this kind of photography. It’s easy to find—on the settings dial, you’ll see a little flower icon.
Keep in mind that it might not be perfect, but it’s a good place to start. You may want to analyze your pics after taking them to see how they look—are they a little dark, are you getting the kind of background blur that you’d like?
That will help you to figure out what sort of manual settings will help you snap the photos you want. If you’re doing an online photography course for kids or have a photography teacher, you can also show them your pics and get their advice.
Aperture Priority
If you’re comfortable with using manual mode on your camera, we recommend using aperture priority mode (Av). Flowers aren’t going to run away from you while you’re taking pics (unless there’s a lot of wind!). So you shouldn’t need to mess around with shutter speed too much.
Using aperture priority mode allows you to control the amount of light coming into the lens, and also have some degree of control over the background blur. Choosing an aperture setting of between f/1.8 and f/7 will give you lovely bokeh (background blur), so experiment with these numbers outdoors.
If you want to take flower photos in a still life setting, like indoors, and you want your background in focus, you can use an aperture of around f/11.
Zoom
Using a standard lens works quite well for close-up images, especially if you zoom in quite a bit. One of the best things about using zoom is that it gives you a great background blur, so your flower really pops. You may want to pair your zoom with a tripod for a bit more stability!
Advanced Tip: Focal Length
If you want beautifully detailed flower pics, a macro lens is your best choice. You’ll be able to get really close-up images, but also be able to step slightly back and get a lovely full flower picture. A focal length of around 100 mm is good.
But you can definitely get great flower pictures no matter what camera or lens you’ve got. It’s all about creativity and seeing things from a different perspective!
How to Photograph Flowers Perfectly
Once your settings are in place, it’s time to get out there and snap away! Here’s how to set up and take an amazing flower photo.
Perspective
You don’t always have to look a flower in the face. Sometimes, the best flower photos are from unique angles and perspectives!
Look for a different view. Take one from behind the flower, instead of looking straight on. Photograph it from below, instead of from above.
This is where you’ll really begin to build your creative photo taking. Every online photography course for kids can teach this in theory, but it needs some practice to get right!
Color/Saturation
One of the most amazing things about flower photography is the wide range of colors you can capture. If you really want your flower pictures to pop, you can change the color saturation settings on your camera. You may have to Google where to find this setting on your particular camera.
Increased saturation makes your pictures look richer and more vibrant, like the one below. There’s a fine line between looking natural and looking over-edited, so play around with this to find something that looks good to you!
You can also do the opposite and lower the saturation. This will give your pictures a pastel kind of look—not quite black and white, but with pretty, muted color.
Black & White
Although flower colors can be eye-catching and stunning, you can also go for black and white for a different feeling. Most cameras have a black and white setting, or you can desaturate your pictures later on your computer.
Black and white pictures are lovely when the lighting is right. In both pictures below, the B&W contrast is striking because of the lighting. Play around with this—it might be a good idea to convert colored photos to B&W afterwards to see what kind of pictures work best in this style.
Patterns
Color isn’t the only eye-catching feature you’ll find on flowers! Once you start looking with a photographer’s eye, you’ll notice spectacular patterns everywhere, including on flower petals.
Keep in mind that the petals aren’t the only place you’ll see patterns. Zoom out a little and look at the bigger picture, and you might spot repetitive patterns in fields of flowers as well… Like the picture below.
Just like looking for unique perspectives, look for unique patterns!
Shapes
Not all flowers are shaped the same way. Look closely, and you can find all kinds of unique shapes in petals, stems, leaves, and pollen.
Taking photos from different angles can also show shapes that you might not see looking at the flower straight on. Swirls, lines, curves, circles, ovals… You might need to get up close to spot unique lines and paths.
Abstracts
If you have a macro lens, you can get so close up that the flower… Doesn’t quite look like a flower anymore! Like the photos below—a dandelion and a pretty pink flower—which don’t look quite like the normal flower photos you see.
This can be difficult to do without a macro function, but you may be able to get it right by using your unusual angles and shapes.
Flower Photographers to Follow
It’s quite rare to find photographers who specialize in flowers. But they’re out there! Here are a few amazing photographers whose flower photography you should definitely check out.
- Denise Ippolito
- Susan Phelps
- Sanna Kannisto
- Daniel Shipp
- Robert Llewellyn
- Harold Davis
- Kevin Dutton
- Jonathan Nourok
Flower Photography Workshop for Kids
One of the best things about flower photography is that flowers are everywhere! There are endless chances to practice… Whether you’ve got a DSLR or a smartphone camera.
If you can join a flower photography workshop for kids, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a great flower photographer. Otherwise, follow the advice here, experiment, and above all… Have fun with it!
