chasgroh Loc: Buena Park, CA

...thanks man...good info and got a nice chuckle to start the day!

Harvey Loc: Pioneer, CA

I too live in an area that hase a wonderful and quite long wildflower season - No. CA Sierras - I have found my 18-55 quite sufficient as well using a reflector as suggested as a wind break and fill light.

tbpmusic Loc: LaPorte, Indiana

I see the First Cav logo in your avatar - VietNam ??
I was there in 68-69, 4'th Infantry. It's possible you saved my butt.......
Thanks for your service...........

ORpilot Loc: Prineville, Or

Any of those lenses will work. It just depends on how much background that you want. 85mm will be the least. If you need to get real close just get a set of "close-up-lenses" they are sold in sets of 3 or 4. And not very expensive. They screw on your lens just like a filter. They can even be screwed to each other for added closeness.

chasgroh Loc: Buena Park, CA

...same back 'atcha, bro...yup, B Troop 7/1 Cav and I was there pretty much for the year of '71.
Jeeze, we surely missed working with *our* troops!

CLF Loc: Raleigh, NC

First the important part of a response. Thank you, Chasgroh and Tbpmusic and all other current or former military personnel, Thank You for your service. It is due to your service that we have the freedom to take the photos we do and a site like UHH to share them.

To the OP:

I would prefer the 85mm from the lenses that you have with you on this trip. It will bring the wild flowers up close to you without you having to get close to them. I like the way you can selectively focus on different flowers and have all the rest slight to totally out of focus. For taking the photos of any of the trees, ie the dogwood for example, use one of the wide angles to get the overall view of the tree and then the 85mm for specific buds/flowers. For future trips I would choose my Canon 24-105mm L lens. It would give you all you would need for the wild flowers.

Just my $.02. I do not claim to be a pro just an avid amateur.

Greg

wesm Loc: Los Altos CA

Full frame, or crop sensor?
I would use either the 25 or the 18, depending on your answer, to photograph clusters. I photograph desert wildflowers, some quite showy, others incredibly tiny. I normally use a 24-70 zoom on a full-frame body, covers both clusters and individual flowers. I like the photos I get as much or better as those i have taken with a 100mm macro lens.

For windy conditions, I try to :
(a) get out of the wind or
(b) use the fastest shutter speed I can get away with, and try to time the shot against the gusts.

Normally, I'm hiking with minimal gear, nothing but a hat to block the wind, but I'm not coordinated enough to do that. So I try to move around, time the gusts as above, or move to a different area and subject.

I have a couple of wildflower albums here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dancingtrout/albums

jcboy3

If you want to shoot individual flowers, then the 85 is likely the best bet. But it depends on closest focusing distance; you might be able to fill the frame better with a shorter lens. Too short, however, and you will get perspective distortion. If you want to shoot beds of flowers, then wider will be best; depends on how big the flower beds are. Wildflowers can cover hills and make for colorful wide shots. Get up close with a wide angle lens, or move back and shoot with the telephoto (you get image compression that way). Personally, the 50mm is likely the most boring (assuming the other lenses are shot with their advantages in mind).

Do not shoot wide open unless shallow DOF is an effect you are striving for. Generally, you want the flower in focus, so shooting f/11 at wide angles or f/16 at telephoto angles is a good start.

Using a reflector can help significantly. If light is low, a white, silver, gold, or gold/silver combination can be helpful. But, the reflectors should be used to light the shot. Blocking wind is a separate function; might require a separate reflector. If light is bright, a translucent reflector can also be helpful to shade the flower. Finally, you can use a white or black reflector as a background. I am particulary partial to black. If you get a combination 5-in-1 type reflector, you will usually have most of these, especially white, black, and translucent. I also use a Photoflex LiteDisc white/black combination, but the black is similar to the black on the 5-in-1 combinations; it is too shiny. FlexFill makes a nice black sort of velvet reflector; it's all black so you will need the other types as well. Or, you can do what I did and go to a fabric store and get a black velvet or non-reflective material.

At any rate; here is an example of an orchid shot with my Olympus at equivalent f/16, 120mm.

(Download)

robbiedoug Loc: Cuero, Texas

I don't know what weather conditions you have, but we here in South Texas find that early morning is best for shooting wildflowers. Also in the Hill Country, west of Austin, is another great area. Several years ago the Texas legislature passed a resolution naming our county (DeWitt) as the wildflower capital of Texas, as we are lucky enough to have species from several areas of the state. If you could get ahold of our monthly magazine Texas Highways, they usually show what's happening in the various areas of the state and you could probably find some good examples of wildflowers.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

No, you do not need a macro/micro lens for photographing flowers. Only if you want to photograph very close-up or macro; to the point of showing parts of flowers like Anthers or Stamen or Pollen. For fields of flowers any of the lenses you have are usable. For close-ups of individual or a few flowers, try the 50mm or 85mm. I'm assuming you have a APS-C Cropped Factor body, but that makes little difference for either the 50mm or 85mm work for FF too. The 18mm or 25mm would not be a good choice for a Full Frame camera for landscapes.

robbiedoug Loc: Cuero, Texas

Apparently, no other Texan around, so I will expound on what I know about photographing wildflowers. I live in an area of South Texas known as the "Wildflower Capitol of Texas" (DeWitt County).Most folks around here use some type of close-up lens or filter set-up. I shot with a Nikon D300, 18-200mm zoom, with a Canon 72mm close-up lens, 500 D (screw-in, like a filter) attached. Some folks (the more affluent ones) have dedicated macro/micro lenses in the 85mm or 105mm range. Being here in South Texas, we have an abundance of wildflowers, starting in late March and going on through middle of June. Some highway ditches are so covered with bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, cone flowers and others that one can't see the water or the trash.

Haydon

I'd consider also bringing a piece of black/white foamboard. They can be found for $1.00 each 20"x30" at a dollar store. Great for high key and low key compositions and shields the wind. Both of them can offer fill/negative fill for dimensional lighting on the fly.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

It all depends on the image you want to take, i.e., the end result you desire. I shoot a lot of wildflowers and I seldom use my macro for this. I often use a long lens and often use a 24-70 or 24-120. I'm not one of the people who shoots just a small part of the flower, which a macro is great for, but instead someone who shoots the whole flower with the intent of making the flower the main focal point. You will need a fast lens if it is windy. A longer lens will get you closer to flowers that are high up and will blur the background nicely if that is your goal. Get a vision and then figure out how to get that image with the lens you have.

Photocraig

John,
You're just facing the issues of Spring Wildflower Photography wherever you are. I'm going to be in Truckee, CA at about 6500 feet and expect the same conditions in addition to fast swollen streams full of snow melt runoff. But the wind is almost always the issue and alog with less flower trampling foot traffic why mornings are prime time. Bring a reflector for the primary light reflecting purpose but also for a wind block. A diffuser, if ya got one. Your Tripod will help. Wildflower shoots split between broad landscapes of the fields of color and individual portraits. Those Portraits are perfect for your 85. Your wide should inherently solve your DOF problems. Remember to match the slope of any hillsides with your sensor plane to keep as much of that field in focus.

The problem with Wide Angle lenses for this is that they render the already small flowers as mere dots of color. I suggest setting the scene with wide shot or two, "extracting" some groups with a longer lens, and then focusing on small, wind protected spots with small groups and individual flowers to give a full sense of the experience and their beauty.

C

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

I prefer a longer lens for flower pictures. When up real close with a macro lens, the focus depth is quite narrow. If I can back away and use a longer lens to fill the frame, the focus depth allows more of the flower to remain in focus.

In addition, the closer you are to the flower, the more impact the wind has on the result.