Discovering Macro Flower Photography

I’ve always been drawn to macro photography. I think most beginners end up taking close ups of flowers in or around their house as they learn the ins and outs of photography. But taking closeups with an entry level camera and kit lens is not the same thing as taking them using a professional-grade macro lens.

Having been inspired by a video on minimalist photography by Judy Hancock Holland, I went ahead and purchased a used Sony A7RIV and the Sony 90mm f/2.8 macro lens. As with any new genre of photography, I dove head first into learning.

Before long, half of our dining room table was set up with black and white particle boards, various types of clamps for holding flowers in place, and a new tripod to round out the setup. After watching a few more YouTube videos, I started firing away. Making tons of mistakes, but also capturing some winners, and having a heck of a lot of fun along the way. I was hooked.

A Trip to Murphys

Around this time, my wife and I headed up to the small town of Murphys in the Sierra foothills of California for St. Patrick’s Day. I brought along my macro rig to see what kind of minimalist/macro photos I might capture.

On St. Paddy’s day itself, we scheduled a winery tour of Ironstone Vineyards. The grounds are located a few miles outside of town and I was hoping for some sort of flower bed to stretch my macro muscles upon.

Sure enough, no sooner had we arrived, waiting out front of the winery were flower beds after flower beds. I was in heaven. I quickly took out my camera (I left the tripod in the car) and got to work.

There were so many varietals that It was a flower macro photographer’s dream. But at the same time, I felt like I was taking the same old pictures I’d been taking at home. Pretty much the same type of macro shot, just different varietals of flowers. I grew dejected.

I sat back and asked myself what the heck was going on? I couldn’t ask for better subject matter to photograph. I’m still a beginner. What could I possibly expect of myself?

The answer was the same I usually give myself: I didn’t want my pictures to look like every other flower photo out there. I mean, there was only so much you can do with macro flower photography, but I wanted to at least change up my approach and stop acting like a brand new photographer.

I asked myself, what are my strengths? I love black and white photography because of the play between light and shadow. And there was my answer. Could I approach color flower macro photography the same way I approached my black and white shots?

So instead of shooting flower after flower, making sure not to miss a varietal, I took a step back and browsed amongst the flower beds until I spotted some purple flowers that were half in shadow. That was it!

I put down my gear, looked for the best possible composition and snapped away. That rush of excitement shot through me as I checked the back of the camera and saw the results. I couldn’t be positive because you never know for sure until you upload images into the computer. But even if the focus was missed somehow, at least I found the approach that fit my style.

Upon arriving home and uploading my photos from the trip, I was pleasantly surprised to find this wonderful shot of a flower I came to learn was called a Crocus. I considered the trip a success and plan on continuing my journey down the macro flower photography rabbit hole.