After people, flowers are one of the most popular subjects for photography. Most people who own a camera have pointed it at a flower or two. But those photos rarely come out looking quite like the images you find gracing gardening magazines. So if you'd like to improve the quality of your flower photography read on.

Now you may be a beginner with a compact digital camera, a photographer with some experience wanting to improve, or an experienced photographer with a bag full of gear wanting to get the hang of photographing flowers. So, in the hope that I can do the impossible and cater for all of you I will initially cover the basics and provide links to more information for those of you who need a little more depth. If it works, please let me know. If it doesn't, please let me know.

I am going to cover equipment, technique, and other stuff. Other stuff is a technical term for anything that doesn't fit into the previous two categories. It is also to add a touch of light-heartedness to the proceedings. Photography is fun and we can get a little bogged down in the technical aspects - but let's just keep an eye on the necessity to enjoy our image making.

On the topic of enjoying image making, you will find the activity of photographing flowers & gardens, much more enjoyable if you have a passion, or at least a love, for plants, flowers & gardens. You see, a love for the subject, an occasional emotional response when you see a play of light, a colour, a pattern, a leaf is almost essential. For if you don't experience this, you will find it difficult to communicate it through your pictures. And while you may achieve technically acceptable images you will never look at them and think Wow! Not that it's necessary for others to think Wow!, but if you never get a Wow! yourself, there will be no drive in your photography of flowers & gardens and you will lose interest.

And by the way if you'd like some help and guidance then just e-mail me a copy (800 pixel maximum dimension Jpeg) of a photograph that you'd like me to comment on.

Where to start

Now I'm going to assume you already have a camera. If you want advice on choosing a camera click here.The next requirement is a subject to photograph.

I am fortunate in that I have a garden filled with a variety of plants and most days of the year I can find something in flower. So if you have a well-stocked garden then that is the best place to start to learn the basic techniques. However, No garden, no problem. Just click

Ok, now you've found somewhere to practise, and with the wonders of digital cameras you can take as many pictures as you like - just make sure you carry a spare memory card and spare batteries. If you are a film user, then obviously the cost factor is higher and you might want to be a little more choosy about when you press the shutter button.

The key to good photography is to take loads of pictures, study them, then take more pictures. The more pictures you take - as long as you look at them with a critical eye - the quicker you will improve your skills. The quality of my flower & garden photographs improved dramatically once I had an editor who was using them to illustrate my articles in a gardening magazine. The quality improved to such an extent that some of them even ended up as the magazine cover.

More Than One

Never settle for just one photograph of a flower, or a garden view,that pleases you.

I usually find that the last picture I take of a particular subject is the best one.

Take the first photograph of your selected flower or view. Then move around. Take another from a different angle… and then another… and another. Being careful in public spaces that you don't walk where you're not supposed to, and that you don't accidentally trample other plants in your eagerness.

Now you've got a few exposures under your belt. Did you take them all from eye-level? If you did the results are unlikely to be impressive unless the flower was actually at eye-level. Crouch down, place one knee on the ground (a plastic bag is useful to kneel on and keep clothing clean), rest one of your elbows on your thigh - the one that isn't kneeling down.This turns your body into a slightly wobbly tripod, then take a few more shots from this level.

Now move closer to the flower, more shots, then move so that you fill the whole frame with it and take a few more shots. When you move close you might need to switch on the macro setting (usually a little flower icon)

Move on and find another subject and repeat the process.

Speaking personally, I am not averse to getting down on my stomach if it means I get a better shot - though this is only usually necessary with small plants like alpines.

Next step is to upload the pictures to your computer, view them at full screen size and see what you think. At this stage the only person you are trying to please is you. This is important. Just see which of the images make you feel pleased with your achievement. It may be the colour, the unusual viewpoint, the clarity, the light shining through the edge of the petals. It doesn't really matter what it is about it that you like. When you've picked one or two you like and made a mental note of what it is that pleases you most about the picture. You have some information that you can use next time you go out with your camera.

Also notice the photographs you dislike most and what you dislike about them. This is useful information too.

Do more of what you like and less of what you don't like.

The only problem with this bit of advice is that you might not know exactly how you created your masterpiece, or what you did 'wrong' to create your failure. If you don't know how you did it, then it is going to be a little difficult to reproduce.

I suggest that at this stage you don't worry too much about the technical aspects. The important thing at this stage is to get out and enjoy taking some pictures that please you.

Next: Composition

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If you like them enough to want to use them then get in touch and I'll send you a high quality image file for a small fee (depending on intended use).