How to take Flower Pictures!

Of course, the text conjures textures and smells for us, but it's those lavish photographs that hook us every time. So how hard it is it to photograph the flowers in your garden or that you see on vacation?

Not very, if you follow a few simple rules about taking flower pictures:

1) Try to take your pictures on an overcast or hazy day. In some parts of the world this is easier than others - why do you think flower photos taken in England are always so lush looking? In a place like Arizona or the Mediterranean it's a bit harder, but you can use a white sheet or something similar to break up the force of

the sun's rays. Try something as simple as an umbrella to shade your plant, or cast the shadow behind the plant for a dramatic effect. To reflect light back towards the sky, place a piece of aluminum foil under the flower, out of camera range, to alter the light intensity and shadows in the composition.

2) Try using a macro lens, or the macro setting on your digital camera. The focus will be shallow but your picture will be very dramatic with a single, intense element. Keep in mind that because you are so close to the flower, you may need to lengthen the exposure time, open up a stop or two or use a reflector to get enough light.

3) Bring life to your pictures by waiting for a bee to come buzzing by, a water drop to reach the end of a leaf or a ladybug to patrol your flower for aphids. This also gives a sense of scale to a macro photograph.

4) If your flower pictures include humans or animals, be certain that the composition of the photo shows what's more important - the flower or the person or pet. This is as easy as giving the largest area in the photo to the most important figure, but it can be accomplished in more subtle ways, too.

Imagine a photograph of several daisies, shot from close up. Nice flowers, but what's that between those two blooms? A green eye? Oh, look! There's a black kitten staring at you from behind the daisies! You get the idea . . .

5) Think about different camera angles. Try taking flower pictures from straight above a blossom, or looking up at a sharp angle into the sky. Take your time and compose your flower picture in the camera view finder. Relax, take a deep breath and move around (or move the flower) until the image in the view finder matches the image in your mind's eye.

6) Have fun taking flower pictures. That's why you do it, right?