15 vital factors for effective Smartphone flower photography

Welcome to our mobile photographic world. 

Note: 
1. Most of the photos have uploaded in this post were taken on the same day (Christmas misty morning)
2. In most photos, no post-processing (Except cropping) has been done.
3. For mobile users : Please click on the pictures to see the real beauty
  

Flower Photography - Edited

Our eyes always go behind something that looks an attractive, big, and different, but it fails to see the extraneous beauty in the smallest things.
Our eyes need some external help like camera or smartphones to explore the uniqueness and elegance in the smallest things. Unfortunately, it is impossible for all of us to buy a DSLR to click the photos. I also don’t have one, but I have a smartphone. Smartphones are enough to take astonishing photos. For that, you have to learn to maximize the potential of your device and sharpen your photographic and imagination skills. If you scroll down through social media, you can see countless numbers of most astounding mobile photographs. Nowadays, the features in smartphones are more than enough to freeze the perfect moments.

Mobile - Flower Photography : Misty Morning _ Unedited

I hope you already know where this post is heading to. Yes. We are going to give some tips on mobile photography. But we need some good subjects to take photos, am I right? What else other than a graceful flower? I am pretty sure that, the person with a smartphone and having interest in photography captured a flower at-least once in their initial stages of photography learning sessions. Flowers are the best subjects to learn photography.

It's time to take out your smartphone outside and capture the mesmerizing beauty of the flowers. It is just as important for those who are not skilled photographers to understand how daytime, lighting fixtures, angle, background, and depth of field creates an impact on your captured moments.

In this post, we gave some useful and simple 15 tips for flower photography using smartphones. I hope this will come in handy while clicking next time.

1. Passion/Involvement

 

Mobile- Flower Photography :  Mist & Sun Light _ Golden Moment _  Unedited

If you want to become a professional, then you should have a fire in you to reach the Pro level. If photography is a hobby, then you must have an interest and an involvement to capture a perfect moment. The invention of a smartphone has opened the door to new amateur photographers in huge numbers. Everybody is having a smartphone, and most of us have an interest in taking photos for different purposes. Whatever might be the purposes, you should have a desire, an involvement, and the focus, to click the perfect moments.

2. Accessories

It is not mandated to have any additional specific accessories, but additional lenses come in handy while doing macro photography. There are several kinds of lens kits are available in the market at a low cost. I am using a 3 in 1 lens kit which consists of a macro lens, a fisheye lens, and a wide-angle lens. This costs me around 200Rs. 

Lens kit - Macro, Wide-angle & Fisheye

I was totally impressed by the results of my macro lens. Zooming lenses also are available in the market, but it cost you more than 1500+ rupees for a good one. If you really have an interest in mobile photography, then you should buy this lens kit along with a tripod.

 

3. Default App 

 

Mobile - Flower Photography : Rainy day click _ Edited

I always prefer the default camera app on your phone to take photos. I know, there are lots of impressive camera apps are available on Android and ios platform, but still, I like to vote for default app. Though some default apps are lacking in features, quality of the picture is better than other apps. The brightness, contrast and other features of the pictures can be adjusted later by using some other editing apps.

4. Have a great eye to select your subject

 

Mobile - Flower Photography :  Yellowish _ Unedited

Don’t get confused with the word “Subject”. Our subject is going to a flower only. But it can be a single flower, or a bunch of them, or a single petal of a flower, or any part of the flower. You should have to choose that carefully. Based on that, you have to choose the lighting, angle, frame, and lenses (if you have any). Every picture has its own story to tell, so it’s the responsibility of your eyes to make a beautiful one for your subject.

5. Light

The lighting is one of the most important factors in mobile photography. Especially, when you are capturing flowers. The stunning bright colors, softness, and shapes of the flowers make them as a special subject for photography. But without proper light and composition, you can’t explore the alluring beauty of the flowers through photography. The direct sunlight can cause the harsh shadows and brightness glow spots in the picture. It affects the look and can cause adverse effects to the picture. 
 

Mobile - Flower Photography : Shades & Glow spots _ Unedited

The soft lighting is the best suited for flower photography. I will suggest you take photos in the morning or evening or a cloudy day. Clouds are a good natural diffuser. 

Mobile - Flower photography : Soft Lighting _  Unedited

We can call the morning (sunrise) and evening (sunset) as the golden hours of photography. Though there is direct sunlight, you can avoid the glow shading spots and hard shadows by softly tilting or moving the stem of the flower. Even if you're taking photos with the help of indoor lighting, try to use the bouncing/reflective effect of the lights instead of direct light. It helps to spread light evenly across the flowers. So, you can take clear photos with accurate details. Be careful when using indoor lighting or else the color of artificial lights will sometimes affect the appearance of the image. Remember, it doesn’t mean that direct light is always a curse for the photography, many excellent photos have been taken in direct light. For that, you have to adjust your angle and other technical parameters based on the direction of the light.

Flower Photography - Macro lens used - Edited

Backlighting works great with indoor photography. The light source from the back side of the flower gives a special glamorous brightness, like a magical moment. You can also try it in outdoor photography, but the flower and light source (Sunlight) has to be in that position naturally.

6. White balance

White balance is an adjustment that instructs the camera how to record the color temperature of the light source. You can switch that setting from auto to manual mode. In a manual mode, you have around six to eight options like incandescent, daylight, fluorescent, cloudy, twilight, shade, warm fluorescent and so on. You can select based on the light source. Auto mode is good; however, it doesn’t always make it right. I am suggesting you that you should try with the manual mode to understand how it works. You can also do white balancing while post-processing the photos.

Mobile - Flower photography : Rainy day _  Unedited

7. ISO

ISO is the sensitivity of the camera’s image sensor to the light. Normally ISO indicated in numbers such as 100, 200, 400, 600, 800, 1600 and 3200 on your mobile camera. This setting is used to control the sensitivity of the image sensor to read the light. The higher the ISO range (Above 600) amplifies the sensitivity to the lights. It can be useful in low lighting and to capture fast moving objects. But the higher the ISO will lead to higher the noise in the image. The quality of the image gets affected. Try to use the lowest ISO range and go for higher only if the situation demands.

Mobile - Flower photography : Auto ISO setting _  Unedited

8. Flash

Don’t use flash where you already have enough lighting. Flash can be helpful in low light situations. But I advise you to use some diffusers to avoid the glow spots of the flash. A simple tracing paper or an umbrella will do the job of a diffuser. Use mobile flashes only when it is necessary.

Mobile - Flower photography : Mist & Sun _ Unedited

 

9. Zoom

Never use “zoom” and take photos. “Zooming” will reduce the quality of the pictures. Try to go nearer to the flower or use the external zooming lens (If you have) and take photos.

 

Mobile - Flower photography : Macrolens Used _ Edited

 

10. Background

Ah…. Here we come to another important section. The most common mistake we make while photographing a subject is that we forget to give some attention to the distracting background. Most of the time we failed to notice the background. You should give keen attention to the background. Simple backgrounds are the best to highlight your subject. Unfortunately, in outdoor photography, your subject may be surrounded by other plants or wasteland or some other busy environment. These could create distractions from the subject. So, it is important to set/select your background wisely. The sky is the best ever known background provided by nature to us. If the flower characteristics support the situation, then try to keep your phone at a low angle to take photos by keeping your phone lens towards the direction of the sky. It is not always possible to go with the low angle photography, but you can consider it while capturing photos.
 

Mobile - Flower Photography : Blured Background _ Edited

We can also use “blur” settings in the camera app to adjust the background. Blurry effects decrease the depth of the background. This shallow depth of the field in background sharpen the flower, and it isolates from the distracting background. The blurry effect with the contrast color against the subject will add some more cuteness to the subject. Nowadays, most of the smartphone cameras have this blur feature.

 

11. Angle

We can go with three different angles such as low, level, and top angle. You can set any angle based on your view and the qualities of a flower. The same flower gives different perspectives in various angles. Before taking out your smartphone, just take a look at the flower from various angles. Each angle explores different qualities of the flower. Now, it is in your hand to opt the best viewpoint and extract the best out of it. Sometimes when you take photos of the flowers at a low angle, you will have to lie on the ground, but believe me, it is worth if you captured the beautiful moment of a flower. Stay on the level with the flower or use slightly higher angle for portraits. Never move your camera lens too close to the subject, because mobile cameras are not designed to focus on the objects that are very close to the lens.

Mobile - Flower photography : Level with the flower _ Unedited

 

12. Stay close or Step back

When you take a photo of a garden or field of flowers, move a little bit back and then capture the whole widespread flower bed and store it in your smartphone. If you want to take a photo of a flower or a bunch of flowers or any specific part of a single flower, get close to the subject and steal the stunning beauty of the subject by your smartphone. Use macro lenses to get a clear image of a flower in your camera.

Mobile - Flower photography : Edited

 

13. Frame and Grid

Some people worried about filling the frame with the subject. You don’t need to take stress in your head. When you are opting macro photography, the subject and the closest surrounding of the subject covers most of the portions of a frame. For a casual click, you have to put a little effort to cover the background. And instead of positioning the subject in the center of a frame, try to position your subject on slightly away from the center. Even if you have more empty space in the frame, just take a snap without worrying about that. A small flower with a strong color in a simple background is an excellent composition for photography. This composition can create a strong positive impact on the photo.

Mobile - Flower photography : Mist covered _ Unedited

Try to use the grid option in your camera app. It helps to adjust your smartphone’s angle. Triaxial leveling is another setting in available in some smartphone camera. This helps to level your smartphone angle.

14. Have an eye on the weather

A rainy day or a day after that or a mist in the early morning is a golden moment for flower photography. The soft and warm sunlight, freshness in flower, and the footprints of the rain or a mist (water droplets on the petals) are the best ever known composition for flower photography. Never miss a chance, if you got one.

 

Mobile - Flower Photography : After Rain _ Unedited

Wind is a deal breaker for flower photography. It is a tough task to focus on the flowers during wind. It is very hard to capture when the subject is moving. So, patience is the only solution for you to overcome this issue. You have to wait till the wind flow calms itself. This is also one among the reason to suggest an early morning for flower photography. Because there is a less chance for wind flow in the early morning.

15. Rules

Mobile - Flower Photography : Casual click in "auto" mode _ Unedited

Wait- Time it - Shoot - Try - Again and Again. There are NO specific rules for photography. Creativity, Practice, and Patience are the best composition for photography. Experiment with different angles, wait till the flower stops its swinging, and capture it on perfect timing. If you couldn’t able to make a perfect one, then just try again and again. Practice makes you as an expert.

We are at the End

Smartphones are getting better day by day. Every upgraded new model of the smartphone is getting better and better features in the camera such as More pixels (up to 41MP), Number of cameras (Dual, Triplets, and quad), and lens quality. Most mobile users are starting to show some interest in photography. Flowers are the best subject for learners because it does not jump and escape from us. And flowers are known for its primary photographic qualities like colors, beauty, and cuteness. So, Half of the job is already done, and the rest is in your hand. The only thing you have to do is just practice- practice-practice and Shoot- Shoot - Shoot.

 

Mobile - Flower Photography : Mid-Day Brightness _ Edited

Hope you enjoyed reading. My sincere thanks to you all for visiting our CandyKlickz page. Leave your comments and criticisms. Share your mobile photographic collection with us. We are eagerly waiting to see your clicks. Happy clicking…!!!!!!

Mobile Devices used:

                                      Redmi note 5 Pro
                                      Lenovo Zuk Z1

                                      Huawai Google Nexus 6P 

                                      Lenova K6

Photo Editing:

                                      Google Photos

                                     

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