How to take half-decent photos of flowers and insects with a point and shoot camera

You don't need a fancy camera to get decent pictures of flowers and insects. I've never spent more than $60 on a digital camera, but take pictures like this milkweed at the right. Currently I'm using a Nikon Coolpix L610 which I bought used on Amazon for around $50. One reason I haven't upgraded to a DSLR or mirrorless camera is that I want a camera that is compact enough that I will carry it frequently. A fancy camera is no good if you left it at home because it is too bulky.

Now I realize I'm not going to win any competitions (well, maybe a ribbon at the County Fair!), but for sharing on social media or a snapshot to hang in my office, it's perfectly nice.

The first step is to put your camera into "macro" mode, which is designated by a button with a tulip shaped icon (in the six o'clock position on the large round button in this picture). I suspect the higher quality smartphone cameras will automatically switch to macro mode, but you'll have to test it to verify.

Once in macro mode, you can hold the camera very close to the flower when taking the picture. You want to get as close as possible, filling the frame with your subject. Some cameras may allow you to get as close as an inch or even less. Check your product manual, or just experiment. If you get too close, the picture will be out of focus.

Getting as close as possible to the subject is critical. The temptation is to use the zoom feature on the camera, but that is often a mistake. If you can move the camera closer, don't use the zoom. For many of the flower pictures I shoot, I'm literally kneeling on the ground next to the plant.

The exception would be subjects that you simply can't get close to, such as a fast moving insect. In that case, zooming in may be the only option for getting a photo. However, keep in mind that when you zoom in on a subject, you reduce the amount of light that makes it through the lens to create your image. Zoom works best when the light is very bright.

If you are going to use the zoom feature, be sure to turn off the digital zoom on your camera. The only zoom that matters is optical zoom, beyond that you're not gaining anything. If you are shooting with a smartphone, you probably don't have any optical zoom, so you just shouldn't zoom. It's also worth noting that the word "zoom" starts to sound funny when you use it seven times in one sentence.

The next step is to shoot three or four shots with the flash, then turn the flash off and shoot three or four more. Even in very bright light I will try taking a few shots with the flash. Sometimes the results will surprise you. Once you get home and upload them to your computer, you can pick the best one.

As with any photography, the best light is in the morning or late afternoon. When a soft ray of early morning or late afternoon sunlight illuminates the subject, the results can be stunning. If you are shooting in very bright sunlight in the middle of the day, you might try shading the subject with an umbrella. Otherwise, the bright sunlight can wash out the colors. Often I'm shooting wildflowers in the shady woods, so time of day is less critical.

One limitation of my point and shoot camera is that it won't focus on some of the very tiny flower blossoms in the macro setting. A workaround I've discovered is to focus the camera on a leaf or the ground (again, holding the lens just an inch or so from the object). I then hold the focus (button pressed halfway), aim the camera on the subject I want to shoot at about the same distance, and snap the photo. Sometimes I have to experiment with "pre-focusing" on objects of different colors to get the exposure right on the desired subject.

 

Next you want to choose your best shot and make it look even better. That requires the use of some basic photo editing software. There are plenty of free photo editors you can download from the internet. I mostly use Paint.net and Microsoft Photo Gallery, and occasionally GIMP. On a Mac, there are some basic photo editing tools built into iPhoto.

Start by cropping the photo (cropping is like trimming the edges of the picture so you just have the important stuff). If you plan to print the photo, you may want to select a cropping ratio that is the same as the size of the paper on which you plan to print (e.g. 4x6 or 5x7).

Next, play with the brightness and contrast. Most photo editing programs have an "auto-fix" option, but I prefer to do it manually. The results are usually better.

If the focus is not quite as crisp as you want, you can use the sharpen function.

Finally, I often slightly adjust the saturation. It makes the colors more intense.

With any of the adjustments, usually a slight tweak is good, but a big tweak is bad. Also note that I think it's probably better to stick to this sequence, i.e. crop first, then adjust brightness, contrast and saturation.

Finally, save your results. Save it with a new name if you think you might want to go back to the original version at some point.



Swallowtail butterfly larva on fennel. This photo needs cropping.