Phone cameras

1. Pay attention to the light—not just the subject.
   Early morning and late afternoon usually give the most attractive garden photos. Overcast days are also excellent because the light is soft and colors stay rich. Avoid bright midday sun when possible; it creates harsh shadows and washed-out highlights.
2. Move your feet instead of zooming.
   Get physically closer to flowers and other details rather than using digital zoom, which can reduce image quality. For an overall garden view, back up and use the normal 1× lens rather than the ultra-wide lens unless you really need it; ultra-wide can make the edges look distorted.
3. Tap to focus—and adjust the brightness.
   Tap the screen on the flower, plant, or garden feature you want to emphasize. On most phones, you can then slide the little sun/exposure control up or down. Slightly darker is often better for garden photos, because it preserves detail in bright flowers and foliage.
4. Give the picture a clear subject.
   Instead of simply pointing the phone at “the garden,” decide what the photo is about: a sweep of a border, a beautiful plant combination, a path disappearing into the garden, or one interesting flower. Including something like a path, bench, birdbath, arbor, or fence can give a larger garden photo a visual anchor.

DSLR / interchangeable-lens cameras

1. Use aperture to control how much of the garden is sharp.
   For individual flowers and plant portraits, try roughly f/4–f/5.6 for a softly blurred background. For wider garden scenes where you want foreground and background reasonably sharp, try f/8–f/11.
2. Keep ISO reasonably low, but don’t sacrifice shutter speed.
   ISO 100–400 is great in good light, but don’t be afraid of ISO 800 or even higher if necessary. A slightly grainy sharp picture is much better than a perfectly clean blurry one. For handheld garden photography, generally try to keep the shutter at 1/125 sec or faster, particularly if there’s a breeze.
3. Try a longer focal length for plant combinations.
   A moderate telephoto—say 70–150mm equivalent—can make terrific garden pictures. It compresses the scene and lets you isolate layers of flowers and foliage while simplifying distracting backgrounds. Wide-angle isn’t always the best choice for showing a garden.
4. Check the background before pressing the shutter.
   DSLRs make it particularly easy to create beautiful selective-focus shots, but first look behind the subject. A bright garden hose, plant label, garbage can, or patch of blown-out sky can become the most noticeable thing in the picture. Moving a foot or two sideways can completely transform the shot.

Take both “big picture” and detail photos. A good virtual garden tour will be much more interesting if you provide a mixture of:

• Overall views that show the garden’s design and setting
• Medium views showing plant combinations or particular beds
• Close-ups of favorite plants, flowers, insects, or interesting details