Four fun flower photos to take today!

Family photography in Victoria BC

If you’re like me, come spring, you have a hard time walking by a cherry tree with your family without snapping a pic. But what if instead of just a pretty picture you captured a drool-worthy image? 

After years of photographing families in the gardens around Victoria, BC I’ve come up with some go to prompts to capture people and blossoms at their best. It comes down to positioning your subject: Up, Down, In and On. 

Up

This one is so much fun for teens and tweens. Crouch down on your heels and have your subject jump into the blossoming part of the tree. Since trees like cherry usually have the best blossoms just above the child’s head, they’ll have fun trying to reach them. 

It will take a few tries to get this shot but that’s part of the fun. If you set a high shutter speed and expose for their face, you’ll get a joyful, very original looking image before long. 

My tween enjoying a spring day at Finnerty Gardens

Down

To contrast the energy of jumping up, prompt your subject to crouch down and examine the blossoms. Crouch down onto their level. 

Kids get such a pretty, contemplative look peering at flowers. If you’re able, have the little one pick a few blossoms to present to mom or dad. Gold! Snap away!

My little one admiring the hellebore

In

One of my favourite prompts as it yields such interesting results, integrating your subject INTO the blossoms is fun when possible. 

Take a step ladder to make it easier. Encourage your subject to examine the tree and picture what it’s like to be a bird living there. Kids usually feel right at home in a tree, like my daughter here! Don’t worry if you see blossoms or leaves obstructing their face a bit. This can make the shot even more dynamic. 

My daughter enjoying the neighbour’s hawthorn tree

On

Multiple exposures, when you take two or more consecutive exposures in camera and combine them are plain fun. Add flowers and you can achieve some wildly original and pretty looks. 

It takes some playing around but flowers are such forgiving subjects to use on a double exposure. I usually start by taking a photo of the plant and then taking the second photo of the subject, placing the flower in a flattering spot, like just above the ear. 

A quick double exposure using a photo of a camelia blossom and a photo of my daughter

Whatever method you try, have fun out there experimenting! The more you play around, the better you’ll rock your next flower shoot.