Capturing beautiful shots of tropical water lilies can be very satisfying. You can share this photos with friends and family and even someone on the other side of the world!
In this article we will be focusing on the use of digital cameras although some techniques may be applied otherwise.
Adjust digital camera settings
When initially turned on, most digital cameras often default to the ‘auto’ or ‘point and shoot’ mode. If you try to take a photo in this mode you’ll notice that the camera attempts to predict where the focus of the image is and unfortunately is typically wrong. First, check if your camera has a manual mode. If is does then enter that mode. Now go to the camera menu.
- Disable auto focus. This will cause the camera to focus in the very center of the lens so you have complete control.
- Disable red eye. This feature is not needed.
- Enable Autofocus assist beam. Helps camera with flash.
- Disable digital zoom. Digital zoom will cause your photos to look awful. Your camera will be fine with just its optical zoom.
- Enable image stabilization. Helpful for getting sharp pictures.
- Be sure exposure is set to 0. This is the default setting.
- Set white balance to automatic. Camera will adjust if it is sunny or cloudy, etc.
- Set metering mode to evaluative. Camera will consider all objects in frame and is more accurate than other modes.
- Set image quality to the highest such as superfine. As for image size, anything above 640 x 480 is good as it will allow for cropping. Do not set image size too large as your photo file size will be very large and it will be difficult to share. We use 1600 x 1200.
Taking photos of tropical water lilies
Great! Now your ready to start capturing memories. We will assume that it is sunny outside. If you want to capture foliage as well as blooms–approach the plant and check your LCD to see that most of the plant is in the photo. Now press the shutter! Your done!
For capturing close-ups or macros–set your camera to macro mode and then approach the plant to a few inches away. Be sure the entire flower is in the LCD. Now press the shutter. That is all there is to it!
Additional tropical water lily photography tips
Be sure you are remain in macro mode!
- Do you want that black look to the water? Reduce the exposure one notch, -1/3.
- Do you want everything in the image to be sharp? Zoom your lens all the way out.
- Sometimes the sunlight may overexpose the image. Simply rotate around the plant until you find the ideal spot. You may also opt for a polarizer filter if your camera will accept one.
- No image stabilization? Pick up a mini tripod for crisp shots!
Sharing your photos of tropical water lilies
Once you download the photos to your computer you’ll want to get them ready for the web. Create a copy of the folder with the files–so you have a backup–just incase! Then have a look at the duplicates. Using a basic photo editing program, crop them if needed, resize to 640 x 480, and save as medium-quality JPEG files. Next rename the files to what the actual photos are. For example, if you took a photo of N. Blue Aster, then name the file ‘blue-aster’; this will help you keep track of your photos. Now you can quickly email and post your photos across the web.
Did you get a new camera? We recommend first reading several reviews of the digital camera. Then try it out yourself and finally looking at the manual to learn about advanced features. When in doubt, experiment!
Our favorite tropical water lily photos
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Author: Lorenzo Orlando Caum
@lorenzocaum is an entrepreneur and a marketer.
Lorenzo serves as a board member for the International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society. He has over half a decade of experience with tropical water lilies.
He is the founder of Enzo12 LLC, a web engineering firm in Tampa, FL. He also has a business, marketing, and technology blog and is studying behavioral economics.
