The best camera settings for flower photography.
Learn how to capture every vibrant color with the right camera settings for flower photography.
Flowers can be tricky subjects to shoot. With their wide variety of sizes, shapes, and shadows, it’s important to get your camera settings just right to capture every little detail.
Make flower photos bloom with the right camera settings.
Flower photography is all about sharp details, bright colors, and finding the right depth of field. Here’s how to get it right:
- ISO — Use a low ISO between 100 and 200 to maintain a sharp picture. If your ISO gets too high, it could make the picture grainy.
- Shutter speed — Use a fast shutter speed of around 1/125 or higher to reduce blur from camera shake, if you’re either shooting with a handheld camera or outside on a windy day. If you’re using a tripod with a still subject, shutter speed isn’t an important consideration.
- Aperture — The right aperture setting depends on your subject and preferences. For small subjects, a wide aperture between f/1.8 and f/7 will give you a shallow depth of fieldwith lots of background blur. Narrow apertures of around f/11 or higher are best for large subjects like bouquets and big flowers, when you want the entire subject in focus.
Since aperture is the most important camera setting for flower photography, most photographers shoot flowers in aperture priority mode. This way, you can quickly adjust the aperture to find the perfect depth of field without worrying about ISO or shutter speed.
Process flower images with photo editing software.
Flower photos aren’t finished after you press the shutter button. To make the most of your flower photography, it’s always a good idea to process your images with photo editing software like Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom. A photo editor provides you with powerful tools to adjust colors, sharpness, vibrancy, and more to make all your flower shots radiant.
Discover more great photo tips for photographers of all skill levels. Explore what more you can do with Photoshop and Lightroom to grow your flower-photography skills in colorful new ways.