Sunflower Photography: How to Create Bold, Awesome Images!

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It’s that bright yellow time of year. Sunflower season! Sunflower photography screams summer in just about every image. Their boldness turns into art that brightens rooms, walls and screen savers. With huge faces and bold colors, they shout “see me.” When I see sunflowers I shout too!

With our tips below, you”ll grow your own portfolio of stunning sunflower images!

Yes, these golden garden goddesses are one of my favorite subjects. And the sunflower blooming season is July through August in the Midwest. Luckily, I witnessed early bloomers with more blooms are on the way! Below, over one million sunflowers dance across the horizon. Thanks to Send’s Sunflower Farm in Grand Traverse County for their massive field below and many others!

What do We Need for Sunflower Photography?

So let’s prep for our next sunflower shoot. What do we need?

• Well, for starters, a camera. ANY camera! A DSLR, Mirrorless, smartphone you name it. You make it work. With sunflowers, our photo options are limitless.
• A lens or lenses. Your choice! We’re sharing a variety of imagery throughout to inspire your own creativity. Also, we’ll offer tips on camera gear and shooting. This includes focal lengths and lens types. What if you have only one lens? One lens is all you need! And your imagination.
• Diverse shooting techniques. We don’t want all of our images to look the same. Plus we want a lot to choose from in post. We’ll highlight tips that’ll open your sensor to lot’s of choices.
• Last on the list but should be first. PPE (yes, personal protective equipment). I bet you weren’t expecting PPE to be included. Scratches, mosquitoes and the elements wreak havoc on us in the field, let’s prevent that! We don’t need anything standing in our way when shooting sunflowers – or anything else for that matter.

Details for each are provided below.

Sunflower Photography Tips: What Can We Create with Our Lenses & Cameras?

 The links throughout this blog take you to affiliate links where I may earn a referral fee if you make a purchase at no extra cost to you. This includes Sheen Watkin’s Amazon Page which has many of the items below in my Sunflower and Camera Gear & Accessories Lists.

Let’s explore composition techniques and what’s on the horizon with our cameras, lenses and smartphones when we’re out in the field. While we’ll share different types of lenses and focal lengths, the best lens? The one in our hands. We make the image work using our tools!

Big, Sweeping Sunflower Landscapes

With vast fields, capture the wide, wider, widest context of the sheer numbers of blooming flowers. Using our smartphones, we tap our wide angle view. From our DSLR cameras, widths of 14mm – 50mm bring in large eye views. If you’re using a cropped sensor camera 10mm – 35mm focal lengths go wide and deep. The wide sunflower field above was taken at a 24mm focal length.

Tip: Big, wide landscape images convey vastness. They also show a sense of scale by focusing closely on a foreground element and the background trailing into the distance.

Perfect Portraits – Sunflower Photography

Sunflowers load the screen with attitude. If you stare into the face of a sunflower, it just might start talking. Ok, not really. But, they are portrait worthy. If you’re using your smartphone, try the portrait feature options if available. For portraits with camera lenses try the range of 35 – 85mm lengths as a starting point. (There’s that 50mm length again – love the thrifty nifty fifty lens! They’re fast, lightweight and sharp! To zoom in or out? Move your feet! ( Nikon 50mm 1.8G and Canon 50mm are available at Amazon.)

Go Deep Into the Field – Compressed Landscape

If you shoot with larger mid-range or telephoto lenses, bring it with you. Telephotos capture curves, patterns, lines in the distance that you won’t see with your super-wide angels. For our smartphones, pinch in and out to explore multiple compositions. Another plus? Bird photography! Birds love sunflower seeds and your telephotos will love the birds. For bird photography tips: see Birding and Bird Photography, A Perfect Pair.

Macro Moments with Sunflowers and their Visitors

When you’re in a sunflower field, bees, birds, butterflies photo-bomb our compositions often. With our macro lenses we hone in on our buzzing bees and flitting butterflies.

This list of sharp image quality, cost effective Macros for Smartphone continues expand. Thankfully! To check out available options across price points for your budget: List of smartphone macros on Amazon. Most of these work with multiple smartphone brands.

With bees and butterflies, the longer the macro focal length, the larger the distance. I prefer working with 100 – 105 mm ranges to reduce fright-flight from being too close. My macro lens of choice for over several years is Nikon’s 105mm.

Sunflower Photography – For Something Different

Art lenses such as Lensbaby lenses create unique, imagery around our sunflowers. Lensbaby Velvet renders lighting, softness and sharpness. I use the 56mm fixed focal length. Other focal lengths are available across multiple camera bodies.

Lensbaby Sol, a fixed aperture lens, surrounds your focal point with a mound of swirly, dream-like softness. Don’t let the softness fool you though. The sharp area is very sharp in the focus area!

Their tag lines over the years have ranged from “See in a New Way” to “Shoot Extraordinary”. Both of these all-manual lenses require trial and error. The results? Unique, buttery imagery created and captured by you! If you’re wanting a traditional look, don’t start here. If you want to infuse swirly bokeh, artistry and color, the Velvet and Sol fit the bill.

Sunflower Photography: Diverse Shooting Tips Across All Lens Types

We want many images to choose from when we’re back from the field. These three approaches expand the number of images and choices. The image you don’t like? Delete!

• Use multiple f/stops for the same image and perspective. I start with with the most shallow depth of field (big aperture/small f/stop number) and work my way down. Example f/2.8 through f/16. In some cases, I’ll drop lower to see what happens.
• Switch your camera into bracket mode (BKT – Nikon; AEB – Canon). If light is changing quickly or if wanting to play with HDR in post, bracketing changes the exposure settings for you. To learn more about bracketing see: Exposure Bracketing is Beautiful.
• Take multiple focal points for focus stacking your images in post processing (tripod needed). Check out: Focus Stacking, Big Depth of Field.

PPE – Personal Protective Equipment that Goes the Distance

Seriously, PPE is now an everyday household term resulting from recent events. For photographers? Our version of PPE keeps us in the field longer, protected and with more comfort. I’m sharing a few of my favorites from head to hands to our toes:

Attire

• Protect our head and face with a comfortable and breathable hat. I have two favorites but only one hat. The reason? My hubby stole one of them and won’t give it back. So yes, it’s on order. For a wider brim (this is the one my hubby stole), Sunday Afternoon’s Cruiser Hat hangs light and tough. The Sun Tripper Cap Cap with a 2 inch brim even has a sunglass holder built in! Love the fact that I’m not losing my sunglasses in the middle of the field!
• Take care of our hands from cell phone, repetitive motion and holding our cameras. I’m a long-time a sufferer of “blackberry thumb” (it’s a real issue, see Wiki description here) IMAK compression gloves have helped my hands in terms of comfort and flexibility. They’re the only hand glove approved by the American Arthritis Association as of this article. These open fingertip gloves also protect your hands from the sun.
• When walking on edges of sunflower fields, the trenches are muddy, weedy and buggy. A good old pair of rubber boots keeps your feet dry and prevents scratches. I swear by Hunter Boots. I bit the bullet and purchased my first pair in 2003. They’re still going strong in the garden, at the waters edge, swamps and in sunflower fields.
• For hiking, running, skiing, Thorlos Socks XECU Experia® Compression Socks Low Cut and Thorlos Socks XEOU Experia® Compression Socks Over-Calf . These socks reliably comfort and support my feet in the field.

Our Face, Skin & Eyes

• Our face and skin requires care and coverage. For over ten years, I’ve used Neova’s Silc Sheer DNA damage control sunscreen on my face. My hubby uses it too. With a gentle tint, it’s fab under makeup and has a nice look and feel on your skin without.
• For other exposed skin both Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch and Cerave Hydrating sunscreens stay put through sweaty, dirty conditions.
• Bug spray. We want to photograph bees, butterflies and grasshoppers. We don’t enjoy swatting and slapping at mosquitoes, flies and other field residents. And we don’t like nasty chemicals either. We keep both lemon and eucalyptus based Repel and certified organic Badger bugs sprays in our cars and the garage.
• Lip balm for both sun and later. For sun-ridden days and outdoor activities, we keep Blistex everywhere. The car, the camera bag, my purse, backpack, bathroom. Literally everywhere. In the evenings or indoors, I swear by Rinse. Given to me as a gift, I’ve been addicted to Rinse’s smooth, soft texture. Who new about Squalane Oil? Me neither! However, this ingredient along with other natural additions keep my lips from getting dry year round in Michigan’s elements.
• As much as we love looking at mother nature, our peepers need protection. I see too many photographers neglecting this! Eyedrops. Just like lip balm, I keep eye drops everywhere. We don’t blink as much behind the lens and in front of our computer screens. Keep our eyes moist and our vision sharp with Tears.

H₂0 – Be Cool

Drink up! I get so distracted in the field that I forget to drink water. Partially because car-temp water tastes so blah. Instead of plastic water bottles (not good in the heat or for the environment), my Yeti Rambler goes the distance. My first one was given as a gift. Now I have two filled in my car at all times. Many types, colors and sizes. Ahhhhhh!

Sunflower Photography – Final Thoughts

Let’s steal and hold on to summer as long as we can with our Sunflower imagery. In addition to sunflower photography, our techniques, tips and PPE apply across all photography types.

If you found this guide helpful, please share with your photography friends. Comments welcomed!