Break-the-Internet Garden Photography: Even More Tips For Taking Amazing Photos

By Jenny

Whether you’re shooting on your phone, or a more sophisticated camera like a DSLR, we’ve got lots to great photo tips to share.

• In Part I, we covered Composition, Focus, and Effort, so that you can improve your odds of creating a true photographic masterpiece.

In Part II, we will help you correct some common mistakes that make your photos scream “Beginner!” Ideally, you’ll never stop practicing our first set of suggested exercises for creating thoughtful compositions, getting truly varied shots, and being very intentional about your point of focus.

Here are 3 key areas we'll cover:

• Lighting
• Correct Exposure
• Color Accuracy (White Balance)

Let’s dive into each.

Because you’re in the garden, luckily you’ll only be dealing with natural light. Wait, did we say luckily? In fact there’s one scenario that makes shooting in natural light very tricky - and that’s full sun.

The same full sun that invites bees to swarm all over your coneflowers and heat-loving butterflies to dance on your zinnias. The sun is a force to be reckoned with; your photos appear harsh and contrasty and you just can’t seem to escape your own shadow.

Let’s fix this. Ready? Body Block.

Full sun in the garden can make photography very tricky. See how our gardener's shadow is cast right over the flower bed that she's trying to photograph? The truth is, overcast days rulefor taking great garden photos. Ask any professional photographer and they'll choose a cloudy day every time.

Often times, our exposures don't show all of the subtle nuances that are happening in the highlights or in the shadows. The presence of true detail is what can make the difference between a good photo and a bad photo.

Take a look at the photos below and notice that sometimes the lightest parts of the flower petals (where the sun is hitting them on the left side) are so blown out that if you were to cut away the rest of the image, you'd just have an area of pure blinding white. You'd no longer be able to tell that this area was part of a flower!

Likewise, the bottom right corner of the shot begins to slip into pure blackness as the exposure is lessened. There's no longer any detail left to inform you that you're looking at plant foliage.

*Automatic - the center photo is what the camera selected as the 'correct exposure', using its built-in light meter. You may prefer an under or overexposed version of the image, and may even find it to be more accurate.

Overexposed: too bright. The whites are 'blown out', meaning that there are no detectable details in the whitest parts of the photo. This happens when the camera settings are not taking in as much light as needed for a good exposure.

Underexposed: too dark. There are no detectable details in the shadows, or the darkest parts of the photo. This happens when the camera takes in more light than is needed for a good exposure.

Most folks don't realize that the iPhone's camera allows you complete control over your exposure. When you press the shutter (picture-taking button) the camera is automatically choosing the exposure for you - but you don't have to be locked in to that choice. To overwrite the iPhone's exposure selection:

1. Tap the live preview screen, just as though you're choosing a point of focus.
2. Tap and hold the sunshine icon that appears; this is the exposure control.
3. Adjust the exposure by using the slider that appears.

Using the photo examples above, you can probably see how it would be helpful to shoot slightly underexposed and slightly overexposed versions of the image, using the camera's automatic settings as a starting point.

This is called bracketing. The good news is that most cameras, both point & shoot and DSLR, have a specialized tool that will do this for you. Most phones also have an HDR setting that will bracket your photos for you and compress them together seamlessly, stealing the finest-detailed portions of each version.

Bracketing: the practice of taking multiple versions of each shot, including underexposures and overexposures, using the 'correct exposure' settings as your starting point. This creates a safety net, ensuring that one of these shots will have the necessary amount of detail in the darkest and lightest areas of your photo.

 Modern cameras have an Exposure Compensation setting that puts bracketing literally at your fingertips. After reading up (in your manual or on the google) about exactly how your camera's exposure compensation needs to be set, you should be able to shoot away while operating a simple dial that tells the camera: "Same exposure again please, but this time, add more (or less) light!"

Another favorite tool we have is a free app, called myLightMeter, that turns your phone into a light meter (you can find this in your phone's app store). Normally, your camera (or phone) measures the light that's falling on your subject to create what it thinks is the correct exposure.

While that's all fine and good, there's one potential flaw: you're pointing your camera at your subject instead of at the light that's falling on your subject to take your reading.

What we mean by that, is that the most accurate reading comes from measuring the light exactly as it falls on your subject, which is best done by positioning the meter you're using slightly in front of your flowers, and pointed in the general direction of the light source.

My LightMeter in action! Here, our gardener is able to freely move about to take her exposure reading. She can either manually set her camera to match the suggested exposure values, or she can just check in to see if her camera is delivering accurate information. Not a bad service for free!

As part of our Break-the-Internet Photography Series, we'll definitely be diving deeper into exposure. We'll cover aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, giving you all of the nitty gritty on how and why you should be adjusting these settings to get different (properly exposed) outcomes.

Oh, white balance. Ever have one of those days when none of your shots look anything like what you’re photographing? Reds seem pink and purples seem blue and all of your greens look downright yellow?

It’s not you, it’s your white balance.

Because you are your camera’s set of human eyes, you alone have to tell it what it’s looking at - clouds, full sun, fluorescent lighting, or maybe shade. Of course you can leave your white balance (WB) set to 'Auto', but it doesn't always work as smoothly as you'd like.

Take a look at the images below to see what different WB settings will translate to in your final image. And then, we'll tell you how to be the boss of white balance!

Just like a handheld light meter delivers an accurate exposure measurement, you can use a special tool called an Expodisc to create accurate white balance.

The ExpoDisc is positioned directly over the lens and pointed in the direction of the light that's falling on the flowers. Then, the photographer (gardener!) will push the shutter down and take a photo.

The ExpoDisc has simplified white balance problems for professional and beginning photographers alike. Don't feel badly if you rarely get correct color values from your camera - welcome to one of photography's biggest headaches!

Next, the photographer uses the photo she shot through the ExpoDisc to create a 'Custom White Balance' setting in her camera. This setting will be used to create accurate color representations in all of the photos that she takes under this particular light, during this shoot. If she moves to a different part of the yard or notices a big shift in the lighting conditions, she can take out her ExpoDisc and create a new custom setting.

Don't have an ExpoDisc or a DSLR camera to attach it to? There's still a saving grace if you're image's colors are off. Most photo-editing software allows you to change the white balance after you've uploaded your photos, changing the color back to 'normal'.

Using photo editing software like Adobe Lightroom, the photographer can access a dropdown menu of White Balance settings to correct her color accuracy afterthe day's shoot.

Hopefully, you've learned a few things here to improve upon the quality of the photos that you take in the garden!

While automatic camera settings are a life-saver, understanding some of the common issues that beginners face can help you to leverage the hard work your camera is already doing, so that you can walk away with better images overall.

Have questions about this post? Or want to know more about specific photo issues that you're having in the garden? Feel free to leave a comment below and we'll try to get you the info you need!

You can check in with Part I of our Garden Photography Tips here!