Try These 10 Essential Tips for Photographing Spring Flowers

Spring has sprung and with it comes a wonderful palette of rich colours and flowers and blossoms. It’s a great time to get outside with your camera, and with a couple of lenses you can create some exceptionally beautiful images.

In this video, landscape photographer Albert Dros walks us through his top ten tips to photograph spring flowers. He’s at a slight advantage living in the Netherlands which is famous for its tulip fields, however, most of us can find plenty of blooms at this time of year to experiment a little.

1. Flowers Are Everywhere – No Fancy Gardens Needed

You don’t need to visit a botanical garden to find stunning floral subjects. Albert often photographs snowdrops and poppies right next to roads, highways, or even his own backyard. The key is perspective. By choosing the right angle, you can turn an ordinary roadside flower into a breathtaking shot. Just watch out for on-coming traffic.

2. Get Low for a More Intimate Perspective

One of Albert’s golden rules is to shoot at eye level with your subject. Avoid photographing flowers from above as this creates a flat, uninteresting composition. Instead, crouch down or even lie on the ground to capture them from a more engaging angle. A flip screen on your camera helps immensely for low-angle shots.

Pro Tip: Bring a small mat or something to sit on to avoid getting dirty while shooting.

3. Understand Light

Lighting can make or break a floral photograph. Albert experiments with different lighting conditions:

• Soft light (cloudy days) creates gentle, even tones.
• Backlighting adds a dreamy, ethereal glow, especially with translucent petals.

Bonus Trick: Carry an umbrella or 5 in 1 reflector to block harsh sunlight and create soft, diffused lighting on your subject.

4. Choose the Right Lens for the Shot

Albert uses several lenses depending on the effect he wants:

• Telephoto (100-400mm): Ideal for isolating flowers and creating beautifully blurred backgrounds.
• 70-200mm f/2.8: Perfect for dreamy bokeh and tighter compositions.
• Macro lenses (90mm f/2.8): Essential for extreme close-ups and intricate details.

If you don’t own a macro lens, a zoom lens with a close-focusing capability can still yield great results.

5. Pay Attention to the Background

A cluttered background distracts from the flower, so Albert always adjusts his position to find the cleanest backdrop. Look for elements such as smooth, colourful bokeh, dark, moody tones that make the subject pop, and interesting light patterns like sun flares or dappled light.

Creative Idea: Use out-of-focus flowers in the background as natural “bokeh balls” to add depth.

6. Show the Flower’s Environment

While close-up shots are always stunning, stepping back can tell a richer story. Albert sometimes includes surrounding elements like a tiny snowdrop in a field of crocuses to emphasize the scale and context.

7. Get Extremely Close with a Macro Lens

For abstract and artistic shots, Albert zooms in on dewdrops, textures, and even reflections within water droplets.

Pro Tip: If there’s no morning dew, use a small spray bottle to mist the flowers for that fresh, dewy effect.

8. Use Flowers as Natural Framing

Wider lenses (like 24-70mm) allow you to incorporate blossoms as frames around a subject, whether it’s a windmill, a portrait, or another focal point.

9. Shoot Handheld for Flexibility

While tripods have their place, Albert prefers handheld shooting for flower photography. It allows him to adjust compositions quickly, shoot from extreme angles (like holding the camera just above the ground), and the ability to react to changing light and wind conditions

Recommended Settings: Use a fast shutter speed (1/500s or higher) to avoid motion blur.

10. Enhance the Magic in Post-Processing

Albert’s final touch is subtle editing to enhance the dreamy quality of floral images. He mostly focuses on reducing contrast slightly for a softer look, he uses brushes to smooth out distracting elements and then adjusts colours to make petals pop.

Finally, just go out and start shooting. As Albert says, “The best way to learn is by doing.”