Mindfulness in Flower Photography

Recently I was asked to run a short workshop on photographing flowers so I thought I would share some of my thoughts here.

Photographing flowers goes right back to the beginning of photography. In the 1830s William Henry Fox Talbot, the inventor of one of the earliest photographic processes, tested his ideas on flowers and other objects. Even earlier (in the 18th century) Thomas Wedgwood, the son of the potter, had attempted to capture the silhouette of flowers on light sensitive paper.

Since then numerous photographers have been fascinated by the colours, shapes and textures of different flowers and other plants. A few years ago Dulwich Picture Gallery in South London held an exhibition on this very subject.

Photographing flowers is a great way to hone your visual and photographic skills. They are easily accessible – they could be in your garden or in a pot, or they could be wild flowers. They could also be cut flowers in a vase. And they don’t even need to be flowers. They could be leaves and any other types of plant. Because they are unlikely to move you have plenty of time to observe your subject in all its detail and to identify what it is you want to photograph.

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What follows are a few of my ideas on photographing flowers from choosing your subject, considering the background and getting inventive through to what to bring with you to take succesful flower photographs.

Choosing your subject

When choosing what to photograph, whether it’s flowers or anything else, ask yourself a question: “What made you stop?“

What has drawn you to this flower or group of flowers?

To help you answer that question, give yourself time to enjoy it and consider it carefully. Look at it from above, below and behind, and come in as close you can.

Now, pull back and notice what else is around the flower. Do the surroundings enhance or distract from the subject? There may be objects such as a wall or other plants that give your subject context and help it stand out. Or it could be something that makes the photograph look cluttered and takes your attention away from the subject.

The background can make or break the image so I have added a section below on controlling it.

The last thing to consider when choosing your subject is does it have to be about the flowers? It might be the leaves or the stalk or the thorns that make a great photograph in themselves. Helpful when the flowers might not be at their best.

The background

When it comes to photographing individual or small groups of flowers spend as much time (or more) on the background as the subject. You might want to use it to enhance the subject and it definitely should not distract from the subject.

When you are setting up your photograph look carefully at the background and the foreground. How do they interact with the subject? Or do they distract from it? Here are a few things you could do to ensure the background and subject work together for your photograph:

Move to another position

Be prepared to move to another position to photograph your subject and experiment with what you can see in the background. Ideally you should try to use the objects in the background to frame your subject.

Throw the background out of focus

If you throw the background out of focus it can be become less distracting. There are a number of ways you can do this:

Open up the aperture. A wider aperture, say F2, means more of your photograph will be out of focus.

Use a telephoto lens. Telephoto lenses, the sort you would use to photograph objects at a distance, have a narrower depth of field than a wide angle lens, throwing more of your photograph out of focus.

Put more distance between the flower and the background. If you can, choose a flower that is separate from other objects. You might also be able to place something such as a piece of card between your subject and the background to isolate. See “Useful accessories” below.

Throw more light on the subject

If your subject seems to disappear into the background it might be that you need to throw some more light on it. If you have that piece of card I mentioned earlier you could use that to reflect onto the subject. Alternatively use fill in flash to light it.

Choose black and white

If the background includes a colour that clashes with your subject perhaps consider the photograph as a black and white image. If you can either do this in camera when photographing or afterwards. If you do it in camera using the monochrome profile you will start looking at your subject in a totally different way. It won’t be about the colour of the flower now but other features.

This is where you can start becoming more creative with your flower photographs.

Be inventive

Does it have to be in focus?

If your flower is a distinctive shape it might be intriguing to see it out of focus. This can create an image that suggests fading memories or difficulties hanging on to something.

Intentional Camera Movement

Your photograph isn’t a literal interpretation of the flower you see – it is how you respond to the flower using all your senses, and how you want to share your response with other people who see your photograph.

Move your camera during exposure to create a more impressionistic image of the flowers or flowers. Experiment with horizontal and vertical movement and with different shutter speeds.

Get in close

Focus in as close as your lens allows to a single detail on the flower. If you have opened up the aperture everything else will turn a soft blur. This will also help in reducing distractions in the background.

Go monochrome

Flowers are colourful subjects aren’t there? Sometimes though you might not want to focus on the colour. We have already mentioned the idea of turning your image black and white if there is a colour in the background that distracts from the subject. You might also want to choose black and white if you want to focus on the patterns and textures of a flower, for example the curves of a lily.

Useful accessories

Finally, if you are planning to photograph flowers, here are a few simple accessories to enhance your images and to make the experience a little easier for yourself.

Small spray bottle full of water. Handy for creating droplets on the petals or leaves

Light coloured piece of card. Use to shade your subject in bright light or bounce light onto the subject

Something to kneel on. You will have to get down close to your subject so something to kneel on or even lie on could be very helpful

Tripod. If you are going to be taken close-up photographs you may want to consider using a tripod to hold the camera steady

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I find photographing flowers and other plants the ideal way to slow my photography (and myself) down. It’s a way of stopping and giving yourself time to really look at your subject – a flower is patient and can bear your attention – and to bring all your attention to creating the image that captures your feelings towards the subject.

I hope that the ideas I have suggested will help you create that photograph. I would love to see your results. Tag them @stephentaylorphotography on Instagram so that I can see them.