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Styles: Flowers
Flower photography appeals to a great many people due to the wonderful colours and the natural beauty of many of the shapes found in nature. The potential subjects for this style of photography also change throughout the year. You also have the options of woodlands, professionally kept gardens, or even a bunch of flowers you've bought for your loved on.
We are going to split this page into 2 sections - wildlife flower and indoor flower photography.
Wildlife Flower Photography
Find a good location 
A nearby park or wood, nature reserves, botanic gardens, botanic gardens, National Trust properties (in the UK).
Get up very close
Use whatever your preferred method of macro photography is to get some really close up shots (DSLR users have a choice of macro lenses, extension tubes, close-up filters etc.)
Unusual angle of view
If you ever wonder why some photographers pictures of flowers always look so great and others a bland, it could well be down to the position they were in when the picture was taken.
If you always take pictures from a standing position then you photo will be something then everyone has seen a million times before everytime they walk past a flower. If you are prepared to get down and dirty and capture some interesting angles, it will instantly make the picture look a little unusual and people will stop and look at it for longer.
Once you find a flower you want to take a picture of, walk around it and look at it from different angles. Consider what is going to be in the background.
Isolate your subject from the background
As with portrait photography, you often want to show the main subject in sharp focus while blurring any distracting detail in the background. So use a fairly large aperture and also the longest focal length lens you can.
photo by Colin - the 300mm lens allowed all the flowers in the background to blur together to create a pleasing backdrop to the single in-focus flower.
Lighting
Photographs of wild flowers can often look better when taken in slightly overcast conditions. You can also consider using an external flash gun to provide some additional lighting. Having the ambient light exposure set to a little underexposed and having the flash provide some additional light from the side (off camera) can create some wonderful effects.
photo by Phil - taken on a bright sunny day - however the exposure for
ambient light is underexposed by 1 stop, and the flowers lit by off camera
flash. Phil was also laying on the floor to give an interesting angle of view.
Knowing what the plants are called 
If we put some of our flower pictures on Flickr, we like to be able to say what they are called. So if you are at a botanical garden, make a note of the name of plants (sometimes just snap a picture of the little cards you sometimes see next to the flowers).
Combine flowers with other aspects of nature
Insects and spiders can often be found on plants. Why not try and capture some bees going about their business.
Gardening
Although we can't really suggest you do this in a proper botanical garden, sometimes you need to remove some of the distracting elements. It pays to have a pair of scissors or secateurs with you for this
UK Law - under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, it is illegal to pick wild flowers without the consent of the landowner.
Flowers in the rain
Pictures of flowers taken just after it has been raining can look stunning as the water droplets add sparkle and reflect the surrounding light. However you don't need to limit yourself to these times - you can fake it using a water spray bottle. Alternatively, go out early and capture the plants with the morning dew on them.
photo by Colin - fake rain from a spray bottle.
Don't just pick the pretty ones
Sometimes even weeds can make interesting pictures.
The wind is your enemy 
Not a lot you can do about this. It's easy to control camera shake, but when the wind is blowing the little flower you are trying to take, then you need a fast shutter speed . However with macro photography, you often want a small aperture as well to get a decent depth of field and this might make a fast shutter speed impossible. Therefore it's best to just wait until the wind dies down.
Indoor Flower Photography
Some of the guidelines mentioned above also apply but here's a few others ...
Black or White Backgrounds
Most backgrounds around the house will spoil a nice flower picture, even when out of focus) - so why not use some black or white material. If you use a long focal length lens and position the fabric at least a metre (about 3 feet) behind, then any texture in the fabric is thrown out of focus to give a completely smooth appearance.
photo by Colin - black velvet fabric cost me next to nothing as it
was an offcut piece from a local fabric shop.
Dead flowers
Just to be different, what about trying flowers that are past their best. Keeping the flowers this long has the added bonus that you don't have to buy your partner flowers near as often :-)
photo by Colin
Lighting
Instead of using a flash, try lighting the flowers with a spotlight or torch. You can try photos with the light shining in from different angles - this can create plenty of depth to the image.
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