Spring in the Central New York and Southern Adirondacks region means just one thing to me; TONS of flowers are blooming and it’s time to grab the camera and get some shots!

But how can you get those fantastic ‘professional’ images? Do you have to have a ‘pro’ camera in order to get them? Just what can someone with a little point and shoot camera do? Well, I’m going to give you a few tips that should dramatically improve those images, no matter what kind of camera you have.

First thing that comes to mind is when should I be taking those images? Well, for flowers, the absolute best time of the day is early morning. There are several reasons for this. First, there is likely to be little wind early in the morning, and when you are very close to the flowers you want to shoot, then any movement becomes a problem. Odds are, most mornings, the wind will be calm.

Second reason the morning is such a good time is because of the dew that is on the flowers. It just adds a touch of ‘realism’ that makes your images stand out that much more. It’s also the perfect time of day for warm soft lighting and wonderful long shadows - all things that enhance your floral images.

Another good thing about the morning is that the flowers are FRESH! The sun has not been beating down on them all day and the insects have not had their way with them. They also may be opening for the first time and that makes many more of them perfect specimens.

These reasons shouldn’t stop you from taking images during other times of the day; it’s just that this is the best time. If it was a large field of flowers and you wanted to show the vastness of it, later in the morning or late afternoon would work just fine.  If you wanted to silhouette some flowers against the setting sun, that would work fine as well.

So, now we have the when and we’re out in the front yard looking at those wonderful daffodils. What position should you get in to get the best view? Well, shooting down from the angle that you always see them is not interesting. Look for the unusual! Get on the ground, crawl around and look at them from all sides. Watch the lighting, background, how the sun reflects off the dew and all those other key elements to a good shot.

Once you’ve seen the angle that just grabs you, you’re ready to set up and take a picture. Now you’re into the ‘mandatory’ equipment phase. This means a tripod or some other way to stop your camera from moving when you take the image. Large tripods typically can’t handle lying on the ground, so there are very short ones that you can purchase or you can use a simple bean bag or small pillow. Something that has some weight to it and that can mold itself to the shape of your camera, while allowing you to get in close and angle the camera just the way you want it will work.

Now we start to get a bit technical and things depend on the type of camera that you have. The fact is, every camera has a minimum focusing distance – another words – a number that shows just how close you can get to those flowers before they are out of focus. Check your camera’s documentation to find that out if you cannot see ‘through the lens’ and know if you are in focus. You want to make sure that your images are sharp and clear.

At this point, another thing you want to thing about is how much of what you are going to be photographing is going to be in focus. This is called your aperture or depth of field. It simply means that when you focus on an object, some small area in front and behind of that exact point is going to be in focus or sharp and clear.

If you have a camera that allows you to change your aperture or depth of field, it is simple – the smallest F-stop number will have the smallest area in focus, while the larger F-stop number will have a much wider area in focus. So, F4.5 might only have an area one to two inches wide in focus, while F11 might have from 4-6 inches in focus.

Another key tip is to use a cable release or your timer mechanism. Almost ALL cameras today have some way to say ‘after I push the button, wait XX seconds before you take the picture’. Why is this important for flower photography? Well, just as flower movement is not your friend, neither is CAMERA movement. When you push that button down with your finger, you are bound to move the camera slightly and that is going to blur your image. So, use that delay feature and step back and let the time count it down. You’ll have much less ‘shake’ to the shot.

So let’s recap – we have the time of day, spot, angle, a way to steady the camera and we’ve focused on the flower or flowers that we want to photograph. Now, what about the lighting? You should have checked the angle of the light when you found your perfect spot, but what about that pesky flash? What if it goes off, do I need a flash? Do I want to intentionally USE a flash?

All good questions and the answer depends on the equipment you have and what you are trying to achieve. If you have a small point and shoot camera and the flash is just going to fire no matter what you do, then take some white paper or cloth and try and soften the flash. Otherwise, you could end up with some ‘blown out’ areas on your image. Even if you intentionally want it to light up the inside of your flowers, you will still need to make it as soft as possible.

If you have a more professional flash that attaches to your camera, you can always angle it away and then bounce the light off a white piece of paper or cardboard back towards your flowers. That will really soften the effect.

Is there anything else I carry with me when shooting flowers? Well, other than a white piece of cardboard, the NEXT handiest couple of things are knee pads, something to lay down on when the ground is wet and a spray bottle filled with clean tap water (no chlorine or other chemicals in it). So if there ISN’T any dew that morning on the flowers? With that small water bottle, you can create your own and I can’t tell you how many times it has saved the day for me.

The last thought about flower photography? Well, it’s about taking those pictures on cloudy, rainy days. You know what? Some of the most saturated color images of flowers I’ve ever taken have been after a light rain on a bright overcast day. No harsh lighting, but just a soft diffused look. The rain that just cleaned the air looks spectacular on those flowers and most people never go out and shoot when the weather is bad. They always envision those flowers in bright sunshine!

But not you – you know better now!

About David E. Warner

Dave is the Chief Technology officer for the Sacandaga Express, and is an accomplished landscape and portrait photographer. He can be contacted via email at dave@davidwarnerstudio.com.