Photo by Steve Berardi
Wildflowers display some of the most brilliant colors found in nature. And, for good reason–they’re fiercely competing with each other to attract their pollinating friends: the insects and a few species of birds.
However, their brilliant colors often make them difficult to photograph. Have you ever come home with a full memory card only to find out that all those beautiful flower photos you took have blown out highlights, washed out colors, and harsh shadows?
Well, there’s a secret to avoiding all these problems, and I’m going to tell you what it is. Are you ready?
The only way to get absolutely perfect light for your wildflower photographs is to photograph them on an overcast day. The thicker the clouds, the better. And, if it just rained–perfect.
The clouds act as a natural diffuser of the Sun’s light, so when there’s an overcast sky, you’ll get the most balanced natural light possible.
On the other hand, when the Sun is shining brightly on a clear day, the light will be severely harsh, and result in blown out highlights. Since the colors of wildflowers are practically all highlights, this is a huge problem!
Not only will you get blown out highlights, but you will also get harsh shadows, which are almost just as bad! Here’s a photo that illustrates both of these problems:
Photo by Tyler Karaszewski (used under CC-2.0-Attrib license)
The red arrow points to the blown out highlights, and the blue is pointing to the harsh shadows–both created from direct sunlight.
There’s another way to get diffused sunlight, by building a little box and putting a shower curtain over it–and then photographing the flower inside this “light box.” However, you won’t get as good results using this method, as you would with a thick overcast sky.
What if you can’t wait for an overcast sky? Or, maybe they just occur so rarely in your area? Well, the next best thing you can hope for is a partly cloudy day. Then, wait until the sun goes behind a cloud before you shoot your photos. This won’t provide as good a diffusion as a completely overcast sky, but it will still get you great results.
For example, the wildflowers of the Mojave Desert bloom for only a few weeks, and this desert rarely has an overcast day. So, in order to take the photo below, of a Desert Dandelion, I just waited until a few clouds blocked the Sun.
Photo by Steve Berardi
And, if there’s never, ever, an overcast or cloudy day in your area… then, your last option is to photograph flowers during sunrise or sunset.
The photograph at the beginning of this post was taken on an overcast day, immediately after a rainstorm, at Topanga State Park, in California. The flower is known as a Columbia Lily (and sometimes also called a Tiger Lily).
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
This is a new trick for me. Lighting plays a huge part in photography, I’ve always assume the more light the better; to prevent blurring and enhance contrast. Great to know at times a little less sun light could bring pleasant effects too. Thanks for the sharing.
Ching, just remember “quality not quantity” when it comes to natural light
as i read your posts, i can only say you’re the best in what you do and that builds up your credibiliy. keep it up! Th suggestion about sunlight, like with a shower curatin an waiting for a cloudy day is a good one. i haven’t thought about that befor. is this also true i i take pictures of peopl?
Steve,
please forgive my basic question, but i am a complete beginner. i love flowers, and like to take photos of them; i get the point you made about getting into a plane parallel with the flower’s, but don’t quite understand the meaning of F-stops and the use of aperture variation. my aim is to get the flower in focus (not easy when it is not a flat flower) but rendering the background blur so that it does not distract.
thanks for taking the time and trouble to explain to this beginner,
cheers, Judy.
Judy, no reason to apologize for any kind of question! Thanks for asking! the f-stop (or f-number) basically just tells you how wide your lens is opened up, and determines the photo’s depth of field.
Smaller f-stops (like f/4) will have a VERY shallow depth of field, so much of the photo will be blurred out of focus. They’re good for shooting the flat parts of flowers, or if you just want the tip of a petal in focus.
Larger f-stops (like f/11 or f/22) will have a very deep depth of field, so more of the image will be in sharp focus.
When trying to isolate a wildflower in a photo, I’ve never shot above f/8.. I usually use f/6.3 or f/8.
Another key to understanding depth of field though, is focal length and distance between the subject and background. When your lens has a larger focal length (i.e. more than 100mm), you’ll get a more blurred background. Also, the greater the distance between the subject and the background, the blurrier or more out of focus the background will be. That’s why my favorite lens to shoot wildflowers with is the 70-200mm Canon f/4L
Let me know if any of this is unclear!
Steve
Hi. I once projected shade on a flower and the result was acceptable, not as an overcast day but acceptable.