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Flower photography is a popular genre, but what elevates the best flower photos above the others? The answer is light and composition. Light is easy. The best light for photographing flowers outdoors is soft light – either that on a cloudy day, or shady areas on a sunny day. If you’re lucky enough to have access, then golden hour light is also beautiful. Most public gardens are closed in the evenings though, so if that’s where you’re going to make flower photos then soft light is the way to go.
Composition is a harder skill to master. It’s more complex. There are lots of rules and guidelines to remember. It’s easy to get hung up on ideas like the rule of thirds without understanding why they exist and how to evaluate them.
There are also lots of other compositional ideas that you may not have considered. But they’re easy to apply to your compositions, and once you do you’ll see a big improvement in the quality of your flower photos. So, what are these ideas? What are the secrets behind making beautiful flowers of photos? I’m glad you asked! Let’s get started.
Placement (or the rule of thirds)
The rule of thirds tells us to place the subject or main focal point of the photo a third of the way in from the edge of the frame. In flower photography, that’s the flower you choose to focus on with your lens. There are variations on this idea, like using the golden mean, which suggests a slightly different method of placing the subject.
So, what’s the rule of thirds really telling us? The question we’re trying to answer is what’s the best place within the frame to place the flower. In most cases, it’s a good idea not to place it right at the edge. That doesn’t look right. Placing the subject in the center of the frame may not be the best idea either, as it can lead to static and somewhat boring compositions. But sometimes the centre of the frame’s works, if you can fill the surrounding space with something interesting to look at.
So that means that the best placement for the subject is usually between the center of the frame and the edge. Exactly where depends not on a compositional rule, but on the contents of your photo. How large is the subject? What’s the background like? What’s the light doing? What are the colors and textures like? Which focal length are you using? Does your lens isolate the flower, or does it include the background?
In one way asking yourself where the best place is for your flower is the wrong question. A better question is have you made the most interesting possible composition? Is your photo eye-catching or exciting to look at, or is it boring? What is your aim with the photo? Is it to show the flower’s beauty? If it is, have you achieved it? These are smart questions that help you make better compositions. The overarching answer to the question of placement is that you should put the flower where it makes the most interesting photo.
That explains why there are exceptions to the idea of using the rule of thirds to determine placement. For example, a photo of a single flower against a dark green background may look superb with the flower in the center of the frame, dominating the composition. My vintage Helios lens encourages central compositions because the sharp spot’s in the center.
Here’s an example of placement at work. Take a look at this photo:
I placed the flower in the top part of the frame. I did it because the leaves in the bottom of the frame are interesting to look at, the blurred background behind the purple flower, not so much. So it made sense to include more leaves and less blurred background. It shows how I was looking for ways to make the composition more interesting, rather than thinking about thirds.
Here’s the same photo with a rule of thirds grid.
According to the rule of thirds, the photo would have more impact if the flower was placed on one of the four points where the lines intersect. The flower’s on a third, but not an intersection point. It’s an interesting discussion, but it didn’t affect my decision about where to place the flower.
These lines show that the leaves under the flower make a natural pyramid with the flower at the top.
This is the reason I placed the flower at in the center of the frame horizontally, rather than on one of the intersecting thirds.
Close-up photos with one flower
Now let’s look at common situations you find in flower photography, like close-up photos of one flower. This is the type of photo like the one below, with a single flower against an out of focus background.
Photographing single flowers is often about simplicity. The simplest type of photo is a single flower against a dark green background. You can’t go wrong with this. Photographers often need to simplify their compositions, and closing in on a single flower is an easy way to do that. Look for powerful color combinations, like red and green, to add impact to your compositions.
Pay attention to the background and your aperture settings. If there’s a good distance between the flower and the background you can stop down to get more of the flower in focus without affecting the background much.
But when the background’s close to the flower you need to make a compromise. You can use a wide aperture to get a beautiful blurred background, but only a small part of the flower in focus. It may be one of the petals, or it could be the center stamen. Experiment with different points of focus and with different aperture settings to see what works best.
Focal length makes a big difference. The best focal lengths for isolating a flower are between 50mm and 90mm (full-frame). They give you compositions like this:
Longer focal lengths compress the distance between the flower you’re photographing and the background, drawing other flowers into the composition, making photos like the one below. The grasses, greenery and purple flowers in the background have become part of the photo.
Close-up photos with two flowers
Flower photography gets more complex when you include two flowers in the frame. There’s more to think about, but when you get it right it adds an extra layer of interest to your composition.
Are the flowers the same distance from the camera? If so, then you can make a photo with both flowers in focus. But if they’re not, then you need to decide which one is going to be sharp. Usually, the photo looks best when the flower closest to the camera is in focus, like in the photos below.
Another interesting element to look for is juxtapositions like including two different flowers together in the frame. It’s a good way to make your photos more interesting. It also helps you create images that look different to those made by other photographers. One tip is to look for striking color combinations, like the orange and blue in the photo below, to add color and interest to your composition.
Close-up photos with multiple flowers
Your close-up photos take another step up in complexity when you include more than two flowers in the frame. This often happens when I use my 100mm macro as the compression effect brings background flowers into the composition. The composition gets more complex, but also more interesting. One of the reasons I like the photos I get with this lens is because it helps me make dynamic photos with layered, complex compositions. But the same idea also applies to photos made with other lenses, as the examples on this page show.
Juxtaposition is a good technique to use with photos of multiple flowers. Experiment with including flowers of a different type or color to your main one in the composition. For example, I framed the photo below to include the orange flowers. The yellow flower is the main subject, the orange flowers add interest and color to the composition.
Another way of photographing multiple flowers is to photograph a group of the same type of flower. Focus on one, and let the others go out of focus. It makes the background more interesting and colorful.
Shoot through stuff
Another reason I like my 100mm macro lens so much is that it lets me shoot through stuff. This is a technique where there’s something in-between the lens and the flower that you’ve focused on. It may be a leaf, another flower, grass or something else. Either way, it’s not sharp and is rendered as an out of focus blob in the photo. This technique makes the composition more interesting and adds depth. You can try this with shorter focal lengths too, but a longer lens means you’re further away from the flower and more likely to find something to shoot through.
In the photos below the out of focus foliage in the foreground adds depth and interest to the composition. For the first, I shot through strands of wispy grass, blown by the wind. The curved lines made the composition more interesting and dynamic.
In the next example I shot through grass to add an extra layer of interest to the composition.
Point of view
Photographing flowers tests you physically as well as mentally. Flowers are often down low, and that means you need to get down low as well to make photos from the same level. You can make some photos of flowers looking down from a standing height, but you can’t make every photo like that. Your photos would look too similar and you’d be missing out on some of the best shooting angles. Be prepared to kneel, or even to lay down. Buy a kneeling pad, or an outdoor cushion – you’ll need it.
For example, I got down low and made this photo from side on to the flowers. I used my 100mm (APS-C) macro lens, which pulled the flowers in the background closer. This point of view is best for showing the flowers’ shape.
Point of view isn’t just about how high or low you are. Think about angles too. Which angle suits the flower you are photographing best? What happens to the background when you photograph it from a different angle?
The photo below, made from a slightly elevated position, shows the stamen inside the flower as well as its petals. This flower’s petals rise up, so as you move the camera lower, the stamen disappear and the composition changes.
Explore your subject and take lots of photos. Don’t be afraid to take too many, you can’t return once the moment has gone.
Work the subject
One of the interesting things about close-up photography is that a small change in point of view can change both the subject and the background. You may not realize by how much until you start looking through your lens and moving around. It means you have a near infinite variety of composition options, and it’s one of the reasons I enjoy flower photography so much. There always seems to be a new way to photograph the same flowers.
Moving around, trying different points of view, even switching lenses – all this is called working the subject. Rather than noticing something interesting, making a photo or two then moving on, you’re exploring the subject in depth. It’s a more thoughtful way of working that helps you make the most of an interesting subject or scene.
I liked the group of three flowers in the photos below, so I made a variety of compositions by focusing on different flowers and moving closer.
Close-up photos of flowers with insects
Another way to add interest to your flower photos is to include insects like bees and butterflies. Use your observation skills and be patient. If you see bee or butterfly activity take a few minutes to watch the insects and see what they are doing. Are they still, or moving from flower to flower? Are there certain flowers they return to? What’s the light like? Evaluating the scene like this is helpful because you can make an educated guess as to which flower or flowers will give you the most interesting composition.
When you make the photo, the important thing is focus on the insect as it’s the photo’s focal point. As long as the insect is sharp, it rarely matters if the rest of the photo is blurred. From a practical perspective, photographing bees is easy as they intend to ignore you unless you get really close. Butterflies are more skittish. Either way, don’t get too close to start with. Make some photos from further back, so at least you get something. Then move closer and make some more.
You don’t need to get too close and make the type of photos that macro photographers do. It can be just as interesting to photograph insects in their environment. You can see that idea in action in the photos below.
Final thoughts
Good photographers approach composition thoughtfully. They don’t wait for something to catch their eye, make a photo or two then move onto the next subject. When you find a beautiful flower, try different things. Remember the ideas in this article (you might like to write them down). Vary your angle. What happens if you move your camera lower, higher or around to the side? Is the lens or focal length the best one for the flower? What happens if you move closer, or further back? Does including less of the background, or more of it, improve the composition?
This is more important when you’re starting out. As you gain experience you’ll discover what approach works best for you, with the lenses you have, and you won’t need to experiment as much. But you need to go through that experimental stage to get there.
The Garden Photography Workshop
You can learn more about these ideas in my brand new ebook The Garden Photography Workshop.
Illustrated with over 150 inspiring photos, it shows you how to make beautiful photos of flowers and gardens like the ones in this article.
