Macro Photography of Flowers

Tulips; Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/640); Aperture: f/4; Focal Length: 40 mm; ISO Speed: 400; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

The photograph above is nice. It was taken with a wide-angle lens. The repeating pattern of many flower heads pleases our eye. But since we want to do macro photographs, let's go a bit closer.

Tulips; Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200); Aperture: f/9; Focal Length: 40 mm; ISO Speed: 200; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

Closer but this is not what we want in this exercise. Let's abandon our wide-angle lens, put it in the bag for the moment and screw on a 100mm macro lens to get a bit closer ...

Tulip; Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/800); Aperture: f/2.8; Focal Length: 100 mm; ISO Speed: 100; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

Much better but we are still not there. You can use a 100mm, or 105mm, macro lens to great effect, in getting very closeup shots, but I will be using a 60mm macro lens for most of the pictures in this article. An example of a photograph taken with Canon EF-S 60mm/f2.8 Macro USM lens for a much better closeup is shown below. The picture has a wider field of view than would have been possible with a 100mm lens for the same magnification ratio.

Tulip; Exposure: 0.013 sec (1/80); Aperture: f/11; Focal Length: 60 mm; ISO Speed: 400; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

Okay! This is what we mean by a close-up ! Now we can see the stamens and the pistil and wonderful texture in the petals. Isn't that a whole lot better?

So if someone asks me: How do you photograph flowers? My answer is always the same: By getting a bit closer.

Below I use the 60mm lens at slightly farther subject distance to produce pleasing out-of-focus background (known as bokeh).

Bluebells; Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160); Aperture: f/2.8; Focal Length: 60 mm; ISO Speed: 100; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

Now let's see what equipment we need to do all this.

Tulip; Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125); Aperture: f/6.3; Focal Length: 60 mm; ISO Speed: 800; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

Flowers don't move much (unless there is a strong breeze). They don't fly away like the butterflies do. They are everywhere. So they are easier to photograph.

Even point and shoot cameras can capture wonderful pictures. Browse through your favorite photography hosting site to browse through macros and you will find lots of amazing floral macros captured with point and shoots. Make sure you know how to operate in the macro mode and manual mode of your P&S.

I do use point and shoot sometimes for flower macrography, but I prefer DSLRs. Of course, being a little bit of enthusiasts but lacking the means to buy pro digital SLRs, we are forced to make some compromise.

I use a semi-professional camera body. You can either go the Canon, Nikon or other brand of your choice. Just make sure that you have a good macro lens to complement your camera body.

You can search the web for various techniques and accessories that will allow you to photograph macro flowers even without a macro lens, but keep in mind that there is no free lunch and there are many types of compromises there also. I'm not saying that we shouldn't make compromises - that sounds puritanical. But do your research.

Basically, there are macro lenses in three ranges: (a) 50mm,60mm range (b) 100mm range and (c) 200mm range. It depends on what you want to do, what effect you want to achieve, how much magnification ratio, etc. Each lens has its personality. There is no absolute good or bad, there is only "good for this purpose".

I use both 60mm and 100mm macro lenses. I don't have the 180mm one. Both Canon and Nikon have excellent lenses in each range. I like Canon's EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens because it is light. The Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro Lens is also fantastic. The Nikon 60mm f/2.8D AF Micro-Nikkor Lens is an excellent short macro lens and Nikon AF-S VR Macro 105mm/2.8G IF-ED has even image stabilization built in (hooray! for Nikon) and produces superb results.

The 180mm/200mm macro lenses are heavier. I don't own them (yet!) but you never know. Each lens is different and useful in a different way. If you want to be light go with 50mm/60mm varieties.

CAUTION: In the Canon lineup, the EF-S series lens will not fit full frame Canon DSLRs. You will need to use Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro Lens for full frame sensors (but it doesn't give you 1:1 magnification on its own).

You should use a tripod, although in this article all of the pictures have been taken without one. With a tripod you can use ISO 100 and make a longer exposure. I decided to make a compromise in my case but you don't have to. So my ISOs are sometimes very high.

If you use a tripod, there are other paraphernalia that may be useful, such as macro focusing rails (buy two of them if you want to move both sideways and forward/backward). Some tripods have special arm that can hang the camera facing the ground and grass below.

You can use macro flashes but if you don't invest time in learning how to use them, then most of your photos will look artificial and flat. So invest time in learning how to use your flash if you have one. For beginners I think it's best to avoid a flash.

Tulip; Exposure: 0.01 sec (1/100); Aperture: f/8; Focal Length: 60 mm; ISO Speed: 800; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

Flowers can be found anywhere. Parks, gardens, alpine meadows. And macro photography means you can photograph the tiniest flowers peeking above the grass blades, so you'll never run out of subject matter.

If you don't have access to any of them, you still have one infallible way to get access to them: Go visit your local florist and buy a bunch!

Let's make a gallery of our macro flowers. They sure please our senses !! We are just drawn to the details and the reason is simple: in everyday life we don't notice that much detail in flowers and when we see it, it captures our imagination.

Tulip; Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60); Aperture: f/11; Focal Length: 60 mm; ISO Speed: 400; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

Tulip; Exposure: 0.01 sec (1/100); Aperture: f/5.6; Focal Length: 60 mm; ISO Speed: 800; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

Tulip; Exposure: 0.01 sec (1/100); Aperture: f/16; Focal Length: 60 mm; ISO Speed: 800; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

Tulip; Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250); Aperture: f/11; Focal Length: 60 mm; ISO Speed: 1600; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

Well, since you are most probably in a flower garden or field, you should take a look at the ground and see what is available. For example, thistles make a nice subject too !!

Thistle; Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400) ; Aperture: f/2.8; Focal Length: 60 mm; ISO Speed: 400; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

Thistle; Exposure: 0.01 sec (1/100) ; Aperture: f/4; Focal Length: 60 mm; ISO Speed: 400; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

We are talking about flowers here but lichens and rocks and dead leaves also make pretty good pictures. Try something new. It will reward you.

I sometimes find it fascinating to discover that the surface of a petal can resemble the surface of the Mars or the Sahara desert; its creases can resemble an undulating hillside with red rocks, or something totally unexpected.

Look at some of the pictures below and you'll see what I mean.

Tulip; Exposure: 0.01 sec (1/100) ; Aperture: f/4; Focal Length: 60 mm; ISO Speed: 800; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

Tulip; Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200) ; Aperture: f/4; Focal Length: 60 mm; ISO Speed: 800; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

Tulip; Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125); Aperture: f/7.1; Focal Length: 60 mm; ISO Speed: 800; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

I hope you have a yearning now to go out there and capture flowers in your sensor. Please do that and let me know how it comes out.

If you make mistakes, don't worry. Life is long and we have time to correct our mistakes. Learning is what makes us human beings.

Also check out my other postings including Learning Macro Photography with Butterflies as Subjects and Extreme Macro Photography.

Also my Flickr set I used for this article is here:
My Flickr Set of Flower Macros

And, do you want to know which one is The Best Compact Camera in the World?

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