Just because you aren’t equipped with a super high grade professional camera doesn’t mean you can’t create great outdoor flower shots with your Olympus compact camera! In fact, by following these five tips, you will be on your way to capturing brilliant shots that your friends and family will easily mistake as professional!

First select a background that is not too busy so the flowers will stand out. Select a dark background for white flowers and set the exposure compensation to a negative value. Using a negative value makes the background even darker so you can emphasize the flowers in the picture even more. Even when you cannot choose the background, if there is light shining on the flowers, use the shadowed areas as a background and adjust the exposure compensation towards the [ - ].

As a rule of thumb, compensate towards [+] to take pictures of flowers in lighter tones like white or yellow; compensate towards [-] for blue, violet or more darkly-colored flowers.

There are some cases where you can get a better picture by not shooting a whole group of flowers , but by taking a closer shot of individual flowers themselves. Using the macro mode will allow you to do this. Need to get even closer? Try using the super macro mode. In super macro mode the picture is taken at a full wide angle and you cannot use the zoom. This allows you to shoot not only the magnified flower but also a wide background. With this mode you can also compose a more scenic picture by positioning the enlarged flower at the front with even more flowers in the background. Take note that when using macro photography you must be careful since blurring of the image is more likely to occur.

When taking pictures of flower fields in full bloom, sometimes you cannot get the camera to focus exactly on the point you want. Most Olympus cameras have several auto focus (AF) modes. You will find it easier to focus exactly where you want by learning to use these different modes for different purposes. Try changing the AF MODE during macro photography or when trying to bring out a specific subject or flower.

To create a photo where a flower is in perfect focus against a blurred background, use the zoom to get closer to the subject and farther from the background. When you zoom in to enlarge the subject, it is more likely that the background will be blurred. It is also important to move closer to the subject, while at the same time keeping some distance between subject and background. Using these three techniques, you can create great pictures with the background beautifully out of focus.

These techniques work because every lens has a specific characteristic called depth of field. That is the area in front of and behind the subject that, when the subject is in focus, will also appear in focus. When the zoom is used to enlarge the subject, the depth of field becomes shallower, making it more likely that the background will be blurred. Try to increase the distance between the subject and background as much as possible to achieve this effect. You can also try combining these techniques with your camera’s macro mode.

When you use a compact digital camera, you usually look at the lcd screen when taking a picture. However, it may be difficult to see the screen when outdoors on a sunny day because of the surrounding light. A histogram can be an effective way to determine the exposure in these situations. A histogram displays the distribution of light in the subject that is framed, and is a convenient tool for determining the exposure in bright, outdoor locations. You may need some time to get used to using a histogram, but once you do, it can be very convenient.