Beautiful Flower Photography

Oregon Coast Wildflowers – Salal

I love the shape of these tiny flowers – they’re like tiny heart-shaped bells.  I found this bit of Salal along the scenic overlook at Cape Foulweather.

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Oregon Coast Wildflowers – California Poppies

We were delighted to see California Poppies just about everywhere we went on our road trip.  I love these golden flowers but for some reason don’t get a chance to photograph them very often.  I guess around here they are mostly planted along busy highways where there isn’t a safe place to stop!

We don’t see the white varieties as often down here… these could be Alba or White Linen.

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Oregon Coast Wildflowers – Cow Parsnip

I found lots of Cow Parsnip (I’m pretty sure that’s what this is!) along the wooded parts of the trail at Devil’s Churn.

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Identify the Beautiful Flowers You Photograph

I’m not a botanist, so when it comes time to label my flower photographs, I’m often at a loss to know what kind of flowers I’ve shot.  Searches for flower identification often bring up photo indexes that are ordered by scientifc name that are impossible to use if you don’t have any idea what something is.  If you’re in the same predicament, here are three ways I’ve managed to correctly identify the many beautiful flowers in my collection.

If I have some idea of what a flower is called, I will simply do a Google image search for what I think it is called and see if the pictures match.  This has been an effective way for me to identify some of the more common varieties.

If I’m looking at photographs of garden flowers, I often turn to one of the online seed or bulb catalogs, like Gurney’s Seed and Nursery or Breck’s.  These sites have lots of photographs and are easy to browse.

More often than not I have no idea what a flower is called.  My favorite place to turn in these situations is Wildflowers West.  This website has information on hundreds of wildflowers.  Instead of being organized by name, the images are grouped by color, so it is just a matter of browsing through the photos to find the right one.

I would love to hear about your favorite flower photograph identification methods or sources!

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Oregon Coast Wildflowers – Clover

I’m pretty sure these pretty flowers are clover, possibly Coast Clover (also known as Cow Clover).  I photographed these growing in clumps in the rocks along the trail at Devil’s Churn.

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Oregon Coast Wildflowers – Birdfoot Deervetch

I’m not sure, but I think these beautiful wildflowers are Bird’s-foot Trefoils, a.k.a. Birdfoot Deervetch.  I found them growing in large clumps near Agate Beach.  Enjoy!

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Wildflowers on the Oregon Coast

We drove up to Oregon and Washington for our summer trip this year.  Along the way we found lots of beautiful flowers, so of course I had to photograph them!  I’ll post my favorites over the next few weeks.

I’m not sure what these white flowers are – they resemble several kinds of wild rose.  And the bees were huge and very busy.

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Another Great Flower Photography Blog

I was browsing the “Wordless Wednesday” blog meme list and found this blog.  This gardener has dozens of beautiful flower photographs and has done the research to find out what kind of flowers are in the pictures.  Check out Digital Flower Pictures.  Enjoy!

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A New Angle on Flower Photography

As I look through my many flower photographs, I find that I tend to use the same angle for most of them.  Once in awhile, when I can’t seem to get a shot to come out right, I discover that shooting from a different angle makes the picture really come to life. 

It may be harder to set up the shot from an unusual angle; you might have to get down on your belly in the grass or stand on a step stool to get up high, etc.  Be sure to watch for distracting elements in the background as you compose your photograph.

Here are three photos of the one poppy anemone that came up in my garden this year.  (I like to think I’m good at photographing flowers, but I’ve had limited success with growing them!)  Each one is from a different angle.  Which one do you like best?  What other angles can you shoot from?

This is the view from the top, the angle I use most often.  I love to get in close and fill the frame.

This is the side angle.  I probably use this angle the least.  It can be very effective with the right composition.

This is an in-between angle that I’ve used effectively many times.  I like the feeling of peeking over the edge of the petals.

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Bugs Add Interest to Flower Photographs

Have you ever tried to photograph bees?  or dragonflies?  or lady bugs?  or butterflies?  They can be hard to catch because they move so quickly (especially the dragonflies!) but if you can get one that has landed on a flower, you will have a beautiful flower photograph with plenty of color and interest.

I caught this Monarch Butterfly in the demonstration garden at Natural Bridges State Beach.

I captured this bee as it worked on a tree at the park.  There were bees everywhere.  I could hear them buzzing from pretty far away.

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