Close-Up Photography: Shooting Patches of Flowers

Close-up photography takes creative concentration because it includes careful preparation to capture the intricate details of your subject. In this video, professional photographer Tony Sweet gives you tips on how to photograph isolated patches of garden flowers. You will learn how to identify an ideal macro image, how to align the flowers for optimum depth of field and sharpness, how to avoid background interruption, and how to adjust camera settings for close-up photography.

In close-up photography, the camera requires precise positioning because it has to align with your subject. Therefore, tripod positioning is critical. Tony carefully spreads the tripod legs over the flower bed and uses a 105 macro lens to capture a patch of purple flowers. He shows you how to use the depth of field preview button in order to evaluate the focus before you make your exposure. To obtain sharpness, you want to follow the landscape rule. Focus one-third in from the front of your composition, which will result in sharpness up to two-thirds behind it. Tony recommends shooting at a high f-stop, in this case, f45. To accomplish this, the shutter speed is set at 8 seconds.

With close-up photography, you always want to check the camera’s histogram to measure the lighting and the color balance. There are times when you will want to shoot various exposures using different white balance settings to achieve the most accurate colors. For maximum sharpness, the goal is to align your camera lens on the same visual plane as the flower patch. At times, you may want to make slight adjustments to the flowers, carefully moving them to avoid background interference. The goal is to end up with a razor-sharp spread of color and texture in a full-frame composition.

Join pro shooter Tony Sweet for tips and techniques on close-up photography.

See all videos in our Flower Photography Artistry Course:

Flower Photography Artistry: Course Preview
Isolation Photography: Capturing Flowers
This video: Close-Up Photography: Shooting Patches of Flowers
Quick Tips for Photographing Dragonflies
Panning and Stitching Photos on the iPhone
Capturing Dew Drops to Enhance Your Photos
Capturing Flowers Using Multiple Lenses
Editing Photos with the Camera Bag App
Controlling the Light of Your Shot
Handheld Macro Photography
Creating HDR Images on Your Cell Phone
Shooting Through to Capture Your Subject
Creating a Swirl Pattern with a Zoom Lens
Creating an Abstract Color Swipe
Creating an Asymmetrical Image with Multiple Shots
Shooting Orchids with a Printed Background
Shooting Orchids on an iPhone
Capturing Tabletop Flowers
Digital Infrared Photography: Photographing Flowers
Adding a Textured Overlay in Photoshop
Targeting Photoshop Adjustments
Using Photoshop Scripts
Infrared Conversion
Flower Gallery