Introduction: Clicking Macro Flower Photographs

Photos I took in my garden in Jammu, India.

REQUIREMENTS:
  • Basic presence of mind in photography
  • Any decent camera works fine
  • A good macro subject

Consider the way of Photography. Not exactly a tutorial, but this instructable shows how flowers can be shot beautifully! I have not used a DSLR camera for these, just a basic 7.2MP point and shoot. Almost everything depends on the shooter. Anyone can be a great photographer, provided the fact they think out each aspect of a photograph carefully. These would include the subject, scene, perspective of photography, ideas, composure etc.

NOTE: For non-auto macro cameras, enable the tulip option (Macro Mode), so that you can focus on closer objects.

Tips:
1) Make sure the sunlight is decent. Not too bright, not too dim. Well, that's not exactly something one is gonna be able to handle, so, the post effects are left to photo editors.
2) Never let the shadow of the camera fall on the subject. It'll ruin the image.
3) Check out how close can your camera get to a subject while focusing. While all camera manufacturers would mention this in the user guide, it's worth testing it out practically.
4) If something is unfocusable due to the fact that the subject is too small, and the background being away, try focusing on some nearby subjects, and using this focus setting, take a snap of your subject.
5) Avoid all sorts of hand movements when clicking a photograph. Also, enable any Optical or Digital Image Stabilisation Mechanism available in the camera (if available). Otherwise, try the self-timer. Set it to a small time like 2 seconds, and just hold your camera still. It's a great way to avoid blurry snaps. Even better, tripods help a lot in avoiding blurry images.
6) Set the camera to high sharpness, and Vivid colour settings. This should give a richer photograph. Alternatively, post-processing using softwares like Photoshop and Picasa help. (Not everyone has got a DSLR right? In my case, I have used a simple Sony DSC-S700)
7) Use least possible ISO settings, or else, you will end up getting undesirable noise in the snaps. Photoshop filters can be used for removing later though, but you will suffer a great loss in detail.
8) Click the pictures in the highest possible resolution. The images may be cropped later as desired.
9) Ensure that the macro backgrounds are good. A good defocus of the background always (well, almost) gives good results!
10) Silhouettes like that of the spider snap of mine can be tough to get. Focus and Exposure need to be worked upon for a good result. 4th point again will mostly be needed to follow.
11) Any macro photograph should never have an edge of the subject cut off in the photograph, unless it looks intended. Consider the 12th and the 17th photograph as an example.
12) Patience is a must when it comes to macro photography.

If anyone feels like offering some more tips here, feel free to :) I'll amend this basic list of mine. I hope these tips help you in getting great macro snaps! And also, please share how you feel about this instructable, and if it helped. Happy Shooting!
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