More Tips & Hints for Taking Wildflower Pictures

There are many factors that enter into the equation for the successful capture of wildflower pictures, such as lighting, sharpness, composition, etc., more on these later. First let’s take a look at some additional equipment items that you will find useful in enhancing your picture taking experience.

Additional Equipment: In addition to your camera, lenses and filters, there are several inexpensive items that can enhance and improve your wildflower experiences. Because it is always important to get down, closer to and on the same level as subject, Knee Pads can come in quite handy when shooting in rough, rocky areas. A moisture-proof 3x4 foot piece of black cloth can be useful as a backdrop when the area behind the subject is too busy or bright. It can also be used to cover yourself when reviewing images on your LCD screen in bright sunny areas. A small knife with scissors is often needed to trim out the occasional dead twig or finished flowers. A properly placed, small white umbrella can be used as a screen to help filter bright sunlight from shining directly on the subject. A Field Macro Support and Clamp System can be used to position and immobilize a subject, hold back something you don't want in the photograph or hold a small reflecting screen.  Depending upon your type of camera, a right-angle viewfinder can be a great accessory for keeping you from having to dig a hole to get low enough to see through the camera when working at ground level. For my smaller digital point and shoot camera I purchased the Flipbac 2.5" Angle Viewfinder. Adding a few drops of water from a small spray bottle can often provide a much desired effect. Finally, a Tripod that will steady your camera all the way down to a sitting position at ground level. Now that you have all of the items needed to make your shoot successful, let’s look at some tips and hints that will help insure that you capture sharp, quality pictures.

Avoid Camera Shake: Avoiding camera shake is always a primary factor when taking pictures of wildflowers. Whether taking handheld pictures or shots using a Monopod or Tripod, there are simple rules to follow. Refer to one of my prior posts on Avoiding Camera Shake.

Composition Hints: Think outside of the box and try to capture more unusual perspectives. Look for scenes where you can have dramatic angles in the shot, such as shooting a carpet of flowers on a hillside. Scenes where everything is perfectly straight and parallel can be perfectly boring. However, keep it natural; don't tilt the camera. Play with the idea of eliminating the horizon to create a somewhat abstract look, such as capturing a limitless carpet of flowers using a longer focal length that compresses the perspective. Look for shots that take advantage of dramatic weather such as an impending storm with the sun peaking through banks of clouds. Instead of using a macro lens, use a telephoto Lens to isolate one or more flowers from a group. By setting the aperture to wide-open, you will minimize the depth of field. Because you won't be able to focus as close to the subject as you might like, you might need to use and extension tube to shorten the focus distance.

Know The Focusing Limitations of your Lens: When trying to capture close-ups, it is only natural to try and get as close to the subject as possible. However, you need to remember that changing and using different lenses in the field, changes the minimum focusing distance for close-ups. For example, the minimum focusing distance on my 14-41mm lens is 1 foot, while the focusing distance on my 45-200mm lens is 3 feet. On my Point-and-Shoot camera with 20xZoom, the focusing distance varies depending upon the camera mode. In “Macro Mode” the focus is 3.3 feet; however, in “AF Macro ON” it is .098 feet and 1.6 feet with “AF-Macro OFF”.  Remembering these facts will help you get a better focused picture.

Achieving Proper Focus: Once you know the distance limitations of your lens, noted above, your ability to achieve proper focus, maximize depth-of-field, e.g. the range of sharpness, and compose it to enhance the images' message will arguably be the first criterion by which your work will be judged. To learn why In an image may come out blurry and what steps you can take to improve your chances of achieving proper focus, read this previous post titled, How To Capture Sharp Photos.

Preparing For and Taking The Shot: When it comes down to taking the actual shot there are a lot of things to keep in mind. One of my previous posts titled, Taking Pictures of Wildflowers lists nearly a dozen tips for capturing good wildflower pictures. You can read this post here … Taking Pictures of Wildflowers.

Hopefully this information and some of these reminders will help you capture better quality wildflower pictures. Now get out there and find them!