Cameras and Equipment

Cameras

One of the great things about taking photos of flowers is that most digital cameras today can capture beautiful pictures without much effort and little in the way of extra equipment.

The main camera I use for my own garden flower photography is a Nikon DSLR D80 with several interchangeable lenses. When taking pictures away from home, I also have an older Nikon Coolpix S8100 wide-angle/telephoto 10X zoom point and shoot, which is more portable than the bulky DSLR. I prefer Nikons because they fit my hands better and I like the Nikon standard of color saturation. 

If you are currently in the market for a camera and looking for features particular to photographing flowers, I would suggest the following:

1) Most cameras have a macro mode, although some are built especially to produce good macro photos. Promotion literature for the camera will emphasize macro capability if you are looking for it. 

2) Focal length in lenses:

• A camera with a longer focal length will allow you to shoot macros farther away from the flower, which may be useful if you want to photograph insects and don't want to get too close. A longer focal length will also allow you to take narrow shots that don't include a lot of what is on either side of the subject. 
• The opposite is true of a wide angle lens. If you want to get very close, this is the kind of lens that allows it, although you may end up with more in the shot than you anticipated.
• If you can afford it, a telephoto zoom can cover all the variables of focal length.

3) Make sure your camera can attach to a tripod . If you want to avoid shake, look for a shutter release cable attachment so you don't have to touch the camera in order to take the picture.

Equipment

Although you may have had success taking beautiful flower photos, you may want to add a few pieces of equipment for special situations.

1) A tripod for taking photos in low light, such as an overcast sky or in shade. Bright sunlight is often undesirable for taking flower photos, so the tripod will allow slower shutter speeds without blurriness caused by shake.

2) A diffuser, which is like a reflector that allows light to pass through, resulting in softer light, especially if you want to take a picture in full sunlight. 

Equipment for Photographing Flowers by Ron Bigelow