tips on doing macro shots on flowers

[RuthieC]

Hi can you give me tips on how to get macro shots of flowers. - so that you get the stamen - inside the flower.

I have a eos 400d and the following lenses
Canon 18-55mm
Canon 100mm
Canon 75-300mm

I love flowers and I am inspired by them all the time. So I would love any tips and those are the lenses that I have. Thanks

[Mike4BekA]

some people would recommend a tripod for that type of shot......

[notsotechie]

also a beemer or a flash extender and lots of pratice.

[gjl711]

All depends on what your trying to do. If you want just a very narrow portion of the shot in focus and the rest all nice and blurry, you would want to open the lens to the max and adjust according to lighting conditions. If you want to get as much in sharp focus as possible, shoot f/8 or higher. This will increase the DOF. If you want to get the whole thing, consider focus stacking, that is taking slices in focus and then stacking the shots together.
Depending on lighting, a tripod may be needed, maybe a flash, a few reflectors and such. It all depends on what, where, and with what light your taking the picture.

[Chiva]

in portraits you need to focus on the subjects eye.

for flowers, be sure to focus on the centre of the flower.
these rules can be bent and broken and all stems (sorry bout pun) down to your creativity.


another tip, you will find that even with a tripod and at f/8 or higher for DOF, a windy day will blur your shot, so a flash, (external on a shoe cord) would be ideal for these situations.