Freezing movement

When you’re shooting floral close-ups, even the faintest breath of wind can wreck a shot

Wind is the enemy when it comes to flower photography. It doesn’t take much in the way of a breeze to end up with a blurred subject – particularly if it’s a tall-stemmed species. This is because you’ll often be working close to a subject, where even the slightest movement will be magnified. You may also be using smaller apertures to record more detail, and a low ISO for the best image quality, in which case the shutter speed will be relatively slow, compounding the problem. There are several things you can do to improve your chances, though. You can open up the aperture and increase the ISO, for example, in order to arrive at a shutter speed that’s fast enough to freeze subject shake. Mounting your camera on a tripod and using a remote release to take bursts of shots between spits of wind will help, too.

You can also try stabilising the plant itself, using a commercial ‘soft grip’ clamp, such as the Wimberley Plamp II, or a DIY option.

Blow moment Tall flowers are tricky to shoot in a breeze. The difference in sharpness between when the plant was still and shimmying is obvious here. Small apertures and a low ISO with a tripod can help produce close-up shots with more detail.

Release me Take bursts of shots using a remote release, or via a compatible smartphone app if your camera has Wi-Fi.