Part 2-How to Shoot Macro Flower Photography (with any camera)

[bashfulbird]

This is the second part of my tutorial. I had to split it into two parts because each post can only have 4 images.

Another idea for a background is to eliminate it as much as possible. There are several ways to do this. First, fill the frame (either while shooting or cropping) with the flower. This can be very effective, but make sure that you still have a clear focus point with in the picture. For example, this is the center of a lily, and while there is no definite background, there are still areas in and out of focus to create depth and interest:


A second way is to have a dark background that doesn't take any focus from the image. In this picture, the background is so dark as to be hardly noticed:


The final and perhaps the most important concept I'm going to talk about is perspective. This is what makes your pictures interesting to look at. Of course, all the pictures above have different perspectives, so they all serve as examples for this concept.
Pictures shot from below, such as these two, are always fun, especially for sphereical type flowers:


Most of all: have fun and take lots of pictures! It took years of practice, thousands of pictures (sometimes over 100 of the same flower in a day), and lots of critique to get where I am today. And, of course, there is more of the same in front of me. Its always more fun to go to a botanical garden (check their rules on photography though) or a friends garden (with permission), though you can never truly exhaust your own. Let me know if this tutorial helped you or not, because that, of course, is my goal. I'd love it if you would post your own flower pictures, and I'd be happy to critique them for you if you would like.


A partial portfolio of my work is located at Bashful Bird: Photography and other artistic endeavors

[uniqprints]

A good tip that I got from reading The Digital Photography Book by Scott Kelby is to hold colored construction paper behind the flower. You save on post processing time because you already have a solid black, blue, white, etc. background.

I have an 8MP Canon Rebel XT and these are a few of my shots. They have not been post-processed at all (I just haven't taken the time to do so) and I didn't know about the construction paper tip when I took these.

[ideaguy]

I'm using a Nikon D80 with the 18-200 zoom lens, and find that I want to get still closer...is there a macro adaptor that I can use with this lens-or should I go for a 2X extension tube, and try results with that? Don't really have the $$ to spring for a macro lens now, and trying to find a way around it; any help?

Originally Posted by ideaguy

I'm using a Nikon D80 with the 18-200 zoom lens, and find that I want to get still closer...is there a macro adaptor that I can use with this lens-or should I go for a 2X extension tube, and try results with that? Don't really have the $$ to spring for a macro lens now, and trying to find a way around it; any help?

Aren't you the idea guy?

[Flone33]

I dont have a macro lens, but still enjoy getting close ups on flowers with my Nikon 18-55 lens
The first and last photos have been cropped slightly.

[harrysixtie7]

Originally Posted by ideaguy

I'm using a Nikon D80 with the 18-200 zoom lens, and find that I want to get still closer...is there a macro adaptor that I can use with this lens-or should I go for a 2X extension tube, and try results with that? Don't really have the $$ to spring for a macro lens now, and trying to find a way around it; any help?

Go for the tubes. Or buy my lens : ) HERE