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In order to take great flower pictures, you don’t need any fancy camera gear but you do need to have an eye for detail. If you want to take beautiful flower pictures, like the ones in magazines, this article will help show you how you can do that with a digital compact camera. 

Many of us have taken a picture of a flower and thought it was perfect – that is until we saw it enlarged or on a computer screen.

Another problem many new flower photographers encounter is getting pictures that are out of focus or downright blurry.   

Blurry or poorly composed pictures are all things that are easy to avoid if you know what to do.

You should first always plan to take flower pictures when the lighting is good and the air is still (no wind). Even the most gentle breeze can cause enough of a quiver in the stem to create blur in a close up. Usually dawn is the best time of day when the wind is the calmest. Dawn is also the time when you can usually find the best lighting.

But if you’re not an early bird, you can still catch that perfect flower shot. Other good times for lighting are the hour before sunset and anytime there is high overcast (bright overcast). These times provide soft light without the harsh shadows. The time right before sunset and just after dawn are perfect for adding a warm glow to your picture. And if it’s always breezy, set up a blind or makeshift windbreak.

The other main cause of  blurry or out of focus flower pictures is the camera, more specifically taking a close up without the proper setting. Depending on how close of a shot you want, set your camera to Portrait or Macro. The macro setting lets you shoot from within an inch up to a foot depending upon your camera (check your camera’s manual). If you’re using a camera with manual settings, choose a wide aperture (a small F Stop number). All of the above settings sharpen the subject and put the background out of focus, even blur it.

Let’s look now at turning that pretty flower into the perfect subject for your photo.

• Look for a flower with undamaged petals. Or if you find a flower that’s almost perfect, except for a ragged petal or two, simply remove them. If doing so will leave a noticeable space, look for another flower.
• Look for anything on the flower than could distract from the picture like tiny bugs or pieces of dirt and gently remove them with a soft paintbrush or makeup brush.
• For a moist look, gently spray or mist the petals with a little water.

Next it’s time to compose your picture.

• Look at the flower from various angles in your viewfinder or preview LCD. Make sure to look for shadows and other things in the background that may not look good in your picture. Notice how the light plays from different angles. Also look at the flower from various vantage points. Try standing directly above the flower and then try lying on the ground to see which angle looks best.
• Don’t cast a shadow over the flower. And if the flower is backlit (which can create a nice, irredescent effect), avoid lens flare by using a lens shade or wearing a broad brim hat to prevent light from entering the lens.
• Also look at the tones  in the background. Contrasting tones will make your image pop.

Whenever you see an image you want to capture, fill the frame with the flower or use a classic composition method such as the “rule of thirds” where maybe the flower is two thirds of the image and the sky is one third.

Once you have your picture composed how you want, focus on the part of the flower that you want to be the most focused. Then holding very steady, press the shutter.

As you can see, flower photography is all about detail. And how you display your beautiful flower images also matters so make sure to display it in a picture frame that nicely offsets the flower. When framing your flower picture, avoid highly decorative frames like flower picture frames or bright colors like pink picture frames that will overpower your flower photo. Instead, choose a frame that subtly accents the flower and you’ll be sure to have a framed flower picture that everyone will admire.