FLOWERING ACHIEVEMENT

Mike Harris shows you how to pot a brilliant flower close-up using a telephoto lens and natural light

- Mike Harris

You might think outdoor flower photography is only relevant in spring and summer, but plenty of flowers, including cyclamens, snowdrops and certain rudbeckias (pictured) make fitting subjects in the colder months. And even if you don’t have access to a blossoming garden, you can always head outside with a flower from a shop-bought bouquet.

You may have similar misconceptions about what lenses are suitable for close-up flower photographs. While a macro lens can certainly produce stunning results, you can also shoot beautiful flower portraits with a telephoto lens – and it doesn’t have to be particularly fast either.

We photographed our black-eyed Susan with the new Nikon Z 5 and Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR lens. The optic’s 0.7m minimum focus distance enabled us to get close enough to our subject so that it filled a good portion of the frame, while the lengthy distance between subject and background allowed us to capture large discs of bokeh, despite the modest aperture.

Harsh midday sunlight isn’t ideal for photographing flowers, so you’re always better off choosing an overcast day, or periods when the sun is lower in the sky – and while natural light doesn’t offer the absolute control of studio lighting, you can still manipulate it. Here’s how to capture a floral closeup, and realise the budding flower photographer in you.