Plants

1. NATURAL LIGHT IS YOUR FRIEND
Just like most houseplants, the trick to taking great photos of your plants is bright, indirect light. Full, direct sun can be tricky to photograph in, as the sun creates harsh shadows on your plant and ‘blows out’ finer details in your photos. On the other hand, not enough light will result in blurry, out of focus or dull photos. If you have a large window that you can set your plants up next for photos, then you have a winner! Soft, bright side lighting creates gentle contrast on your plant and helps the plant look more 3D (less flat). Try to avoid photographing when there is strong light behind the plants or at night.

2. SAY NO TO FLASH
Unless you are a professional photographer and know your way around flashes, never use the flash on your camera/smartphone to light up your plant. The flash creates a dull photo with unnatural colours and makes it look flat. If you need extra light you can set up a large white board (foamboard - you can purchase this from your local art shop or large stationery store) next to your set-up to bounce existing natural light back onto your plants.

3. CHECK THE SURROUNDINGS
Make sure there is no stray sock, dog toy, power cord or other distracting detail in your shot...It’s easy to move the armchair just a little to the left than to try edit it out later. If you can’t move the distracting item (door frame anyone?) then re-frame the shot to either make it work or remove it altogether.