Shooting Flowers

Don’t use a flash. Use a tripod instead.

Use a shallow depth-of-field, and choose your focus selectively. Depth-of-field refers to how much of the picture is in focus, and is controlled by your camera’s aperture. Shoot with your aperture wide-open for a shallow depth-of-field (ie, set your f-stop to the lowest number). This will result in a blurred background.

Next, decide which part of the flower you want to be in sharp focus (either the pistil, stamen, or a petal), and lock your focus on that part.

Choose an uncluttered background. Try placing a plain coloured sheet of cardboard behind the flower, and experiment with different colours.

Try backlighting – that is, with the light coming from behind the flower, towards the lens.
Shoot on a day when there isn’t much wind, or find a way to block the wind, otherwise the movement of the flower will result in a blurred image.

Experiment with different points of view. Shoot from below the flower, looking up, for example.