Shape and Design

There are many flowers that have very interesting shapes and lines.  Even if from a distance those for which the shape appears to be fairly simple there are ways to enhance shape and design in a picture.  Many repeating flower heads brought together in the shot can create interesting patterns.  And moving in close to the flower may also reveal details that bring interesting shapes and patterns for a macro shot.

When considering floral portraits the important point is to take care of the whole picture.  First and foremost position the main subject well in the frame.  A central position can look static, the eye moves and is held in the middle of the frame and the engagement between the viewer and the picture often ends there.  Try placing the main focal point of the picture off-centre; it leaves space around the image for the eye to explore before coming back to the subject.

Colours that are opposite each other on the wheel are contrasting colours.  Setting a subject and background together with contrasting colours is a great way to make the subject really stand out and creates a picture that has instant impact on the eye.

Landscape photographers often apply the ‘rule of thirds’ to their compositions in which the main focal point is placed on one of the four intersection points in the frame when two vertical and two horizontal lines equally divide the frame up.  This can be applied to floral photography but probably needs to be assessed case-by-case to decide if it works.  If parts of a flower to be included extend well beyond the central focal point (e.g. long petals), which itself is to be placed on an intersecting third the flower might need to be that much smaller in the frame to meet the two constraints of the composition.  In such a case it might be better to relax the rule of thirds to enable the main subject to appear larger in the frame.

If there are going to be several blooms in the frame try to pick one as the primary subject and make sure the viewer can see that you intend that this one is the main focal point.  It ought to be fully visible and also be the point used for focussing the picture.

Once the main subject has been fixed check around the rest of the picture area.   Other elements might create a distraction or, on the other hand, could possibly enhance the picture.  Some obvious detracting elements that might sneak in include intruding plant labels, rigid plant supports or perhaps other plants that don’t add to the picture.  There are some less obvious ones as well:

• Bright reflections off of shiny leaves leading to distracting over-exposed 'hot spots';
• Trailing stalks in front of or behind the subject that distract by cutting across the subject;
• Small bugs lurking on the flower head waiting to photo-bomb your image (believe me no gardener will thank you for showing images from their garden with these in the shot!).

Once all distractions are gone it’s also worth looking for other elements to make a positive contribution to the image.  Just as for other genres of photography the usual tricks of the trade can be employed:

• Lead in lines (e.g. supporting stems, leaf veins, etc.) can draw the eye to the subject;
• Filling the ‘spare space’ with interesting out-of-focus foliage or flowers, providing it doesn’t become a distraction, can create a sense of depth in a picture;
• Diagonal lines are strong photographic design elements that can give an image more impact (e.g. try to have supporting stems leading in at an angle rather than just straight up).

Of course, there are physical constraints as to how the plant grows making some of the suggestions difficult to incorporate, but looking around to see which plant and flower provides the best combination of some of these design elements can help to make a picture with more visual draw.

The next blog on floral photography will look at external factors that have an influence the composition of a picture.

Introduction to Colour

The appeal of floral photography may seem obvious on the face of it, on most occasions it is simply a massive colour hit providing shots with instant impact.  Whether it’s fiery reds, sunny yellows, moody blues, and even clean pure whites there is something that will give a photograph instant lift and can evoke a mood.  Just like the bees, a floral photographer is captured and drawn in by the nature’s clever and attractive design that makes the flower irresistible.

To understand and manage the colours in a photograph it helps to be familiar with the colour wheel.  Adjacent colours on the wheel are described as complementary colours; bringing several of these similar hues together is a way to strengthen the feel of the picture through the use of colour.  On one side there are the reds, yellows and oranges that give the picture vibrancy, whereas blues and greens offer a more relaxing tone.

Colours that are opposite each other on the wheel are contrasting colours.  Setting a subject and background together with contrasting colours is a great way to make the subject really stand out and creates a picture that has instant impact on the eye.

The colour wheel and the relationships between colours on the wheel can be used to create a colour scheme for floral photography in much the same way a colour chart is used when designing the room of a house.

The most obvious background colour when taking flower shots is of course the green foliage.  Opposite green on the colour wheel is red, so a single red flower against the green foliage can create a very striking and satisfying shot.

There is another effect that makes the combination of a red flower on a green background interesting, and that is the fact that when viewed objects with a red colour can appear to advance out of the page towards the viewer, whilst shades of blue or green can seem to recede.  This means that a red subject on a green background can appear as though it is sitting off of or above the page and create a kind of three dimensional effect for the picture.

Colours can also be described as warm or cold (red is warm and blue is cold).  The colour temperature can be changed by adjusting the white balance in the camera.  Very often shots are taken using an automatic white balance.  This means that the camera will try to judge the colour temperature of the scene and try to modify the colour temperature to something that it thinks is suitable.  The camera can be fooled if there is a dominating subject that has a single colour and the camera can make incorrect adjustments that affect the final colour captured in the image.  For this reason it is always recommended to select a white balance rather than rely on the camera’s decision by leaving it on the ‘AUTO’ setting.

The next blog on floral photography will look at other factors when in the initial stages of deciding to take a picture with a flower or flowers as the subject.