There is nothing more bedazzling than an open field of flowers reaching out from the ground to caress the sun. As any amateur or professional photographer would claim, flowers have always been a staple subject in photography classes, being delivered by the bulk to the studio or having hobbyists going out to various flower markets.

If your conditions for shooting flowers are fixed by a studio, checking the fresh batch of delivery helps you segregate the worn flora from those that can be used. Damaged petals, impurities in the color and how the stems curve are a few things you can look at.

The general guidelines for shooting flowers are really a reflection of the basics of photography. In sum, a photographer should first of all, identify the subject: are you shooting the entire flower arrangement, or are you just highlighting a portion of your subject. Determining your subject will depend on the context of your shoot. Usually, straight out product shots involves having to shoot the entire flower arrangement plus the vase to see the subject in its entirety. Lifestyle shots do not require having to show the entire subject from bud to stem to vase and would rather settle for a creative execution.

Determining the subject also entails the use of some photography tips. The use of patterns or “abstracting" flowers is a common tip that you can never go wrong with. Rather than highlighting the flower as well, a flower it would be interesting to see the flower as a mere shape. This means highlighting the flower’s petal outline, going up close and focusing on the structure of the veins, or going wide and taking a row of flowers as they shoot towards the sky.

A tip when shooting veins is to have a natural backlight behind the flower (an artificial light source like candles or house lights or best of all - natural, but not direct sunlight) to highlight the lines and patterns The end result is a play with shapes and lines that “lead" your eyes to a certain part of the photo. An example of the leading lines technique would be to highlight petal veins that lead your eyes towards the center of the flower bud, which is your main subject. Another example would be to shoot the flower from its side with the stem leading up to the flower bud.

Using leading lines and abstraction techniques are two simple ways to identify and style your subject, specifically with flowers.