Tag: Photographing roses

I’m sorry to have to say this, especially as we think of roses as beautiful flowers, but I believe that some varieties are just more photogenic than others. We know that it’s true of people: why would roses be any different?

Four times out of five if I pick a nice, open bloom of certain English Roses – I’m thinking of  ‘Crown Princess Margareta’, ‘Wildeve’, ‘Constance Spry’, ‘Grace’ or ‘A Shropshire Lad’ – I’ll be able to get a shot I like, quite quickly, from a variety of angles. The individual roses don’t even need to be perfectly formed: a few stray petals just seem to add to the grace of the flower. Continue reading “Tips for photographing roses 6: not all roses are equal”

It’s a simple but effective tip, but from time to time, turn your camera round. Looking through Flickr, I’m always surprised that so many amateur flower photographers take virtually all their pictures as landscapes. I think they’re missing a trick: individual flowers and clusters of roses are often better suited to a portrait format.

It’s easy to fall into the habit of holding your camera a particular way round: it might be so instinctive that you may not even notice it.

Continue reading “Tips for photographing roses 5: experiment with the format”

For many years, I had the luxury of spending the odd, balmy summer’s day in David Austin’s rose garden, working with leading garden photographers who visited to take pictures of roses. I plan to share a few of the techniques I learned in an occasional series. Continue reading “Tips for photographing roses 1: wait for a cloud”