Get a shot you’re happy with at Floriade!
Floriade is on again in Canberra and it’s an incredible opportunity to capture vibrant colour, sweeping garden beds, and creative installations. Whether your camera is a mobile phone or a mirrorless, great flower photos at Floriade are absolutely achievable with a little know-how. I n this post, I’ll give you some practical tips to help get those striking shots—plus advice on the best times to visit for ideal lighting and fewer crowds.
Best Time of Day
Floriade comes alive with morning light. Shoot early, especially on weekends before the crowds. Morning has a softer illumination for your shots, avoiding harsh shadows. This means fewer people cluttering your backgrounds. Weekdays also tend to be quieter, perfect for more patient compositions and for taking your time among the blooms.
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Mobile Phone Camera Tips
Even with just a mobile phone, Floriade’s flowers can be rendered brilliantly. Here are three tips for better mobile captures:
Use Portrait Mode: Take advantage of your phone’s portrait mode to blur the background and focus on the flowers. This adds depth and isolates vibrant colours from the busy festival crowds.
Tap to Focus & Simplify Backgrounds: Tap the screen to select a focal flower, ensuring it’s sharp and crisp. Compose so the background is clean—look for blocks of green or even some sky behind your subject for added pop. Move around until colours contrast nicely.
Composition: Rule of Odds & Thirds: Arrange your shots so you feature one, three, or five flowers rather than two or four (the rule of odds makes for a more dynamic image). Position main subjects off-centre for interest—using the rule of thirds grid if available.
Mirrorless Camera Tips & Lens Choices
Bringing a mirrorless camera with a choice of lenses opens up creative possibilities.
Try these five tips for Floriade:
Bring a Macro Lens for Close-Ups: A dedicated macro lens (such as 60mm or 100mm) allows you to get close to individual blooms for ultra-detail. The shallow depth of field adds a painterly blur to backgrounds, making subjects stand out.
Pack a Fast Prime or Versatile Zoom: A 50mm prime lens (f/1.8 or wider) is classic for flower and portrait shots, offering crisp detail and creamy backgrounds. A 24–70mm f/2.8 zoom covers wide garden beds and closer flower groupings, letting you move quickly between compositions. If you want broader landscape shots, a 16–35mm wide-angle lens is superb.
Settings: Prioritise Aperture: Shoot in Aperture Priority (A or Av mode), start around f/2.8 for single blooms (blurry backgrounds), f/8–f/11 for group beds (sharpness across the frame). Adjust ISO so shutter speed stays above 1/100–1/160s for handheld shooting, higher if it gets overcast or shady.
Find Low Angles & Unique Perspectives: Get down to ‘worm’s eye view’—either kneeling or holding your camera at ground level—shooting up through the flowers. This reveals bold colour, abstracts shapes, and creates playful, immersive images.
Use Leading Lines & Frame Carefully: Hunt for lines within garden beds—paths, rows, or patterns created by the organisers. Let these lines guide the viewer’s eye to a focal point. Compose so distractions (crowds, signage) are out of shot, or wait a moment for a clear frame.
Extra Floriade Inspiration
The Ferris Wheel offers a superb aerial angle over the planted beds, ideal for wide shots that show off the festival’s design.
Go for a Canberra Helicopters ride for truly unique overheads of the whole event.
Experiment with monochrome, especially early or misty mornings—black and white frames will strip away distractions and focus on form, light, and contrast.
Remember, Floriade is about celebrating colour, detail, and the fleeting energy of spring. Arriving early gives calmer backgrounds, the softest light, and more freedom to compose. Whether shooting on a mobile or mirrorless, carefully focusing on composition, lens selection, and camera settings can turn casual festival snaps into memorable images fit for sharing or printing. Aim for variety: some close-up single blooms, sweeping beds, creative perspectives, and a few candid festival moments.
Ready to make your Floriade visit unforgettable and level-up your photography? Check out my workshops on my website. Book one today and then practice what you learn at your next visit to Floriade!