How I Shot These Dead Flower Macro Photographs

Here’s a quick explanation of how I shot these new fine art ‘dead flower’ macros

It may seem strange, but one of the most popular pages on my main portfolio website is my collection of dead flower photographs. I love them because of the evocative decay and the rich textures and shapes, but they seem to resonate with a lot of people.

Below are illustrations and descriptions of how I shot these detailed macro photographs.

Black and white photograph of a dead flower blossom by Keith Dotson, shot with a macro lens on a backlight surface.

Ultra close-up photograph of the petals of a dead flower shot against the light from an LED light box. Click here to buy a fine art print of this photograph.

Here is a scale photograph of the flower in my hand. I bought this flower as part of a bouquet at the grocery store about a month prior to photography.

The camera gear

I used a pro-grade 100mm L-lens, but Canon has a top-notch consumer grade 100mm lens that’s much lower cost. Any macro lens will work.

I shot the photographs using a full-frame camera, and a Canon 100mm macro lens. This is an older copy of Canon's professional L-version lens. Here it has been adapted to a Sony camera. I mounted this to a tripod, pointed downward to the flower on a short table. — I shot the photographs using a full-frame camera, and a Canon 100mm macro lens. This is an older copy of Canon’s professional L-version lens. Here it has been adapted to a Sony camera. I mounted this to a tripod, pointed downward to the flower on a short table.

I positioned the flower on a short table, lying flat on a light box, with my camera lens mounted on a tripod pointed down to the flower.

Focus stacking

As you can see by the image on the back of the camera below, it’s impossible to get the entire blossom into focus at this short distance from the subject. I used a very sharp aperture of f.11, and focused on various areas of the blossom in a series of 6 individual shots. Then, I layered the 6 shots into Photoshop, where I focus stacked them and merged them into a single image.

Here you can see the camera settings. Even on the camera back, you can see that much of the flower is out of focus. I shot the image in a series of shots that were focus-stacked inside Photoshop. — Here you can see the camera settings. Even on the camera back, you can see that much of the flower is out of focus. I shot the image in a series of 6 shots that were later focus-stacked inside Photoshop.

About the backlight

For the backlight, I used a very affordable LED backlight panel that I found on Amazon. This one is bright, easy to use, and affordable at under $25 (at the time of this writing). If you need one, take a look at the link below.

ME456 A4 LED Light Box 9×12 Inch Light Pad Only 5mm Ultra-Thin USB Power Light Table for Tracing

A snapshot of the light panel I used to shoot these backlit macros.

NOTE: This post contains an Amazon Affiliate link. I may earn a small commission on qualifying purchases.

Thanks for reading.

Be sure to visit me on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest, or on my website at keithdotson.com.

~ Keith

1 comment

Jeni says:

August 14, 2020 at 7:41 am

Thank you for sharing this fascinating process! I had often wondered how to do things like this – opting for scanners and light boxes, but no knowledge of the post processing that really is the magnificent end result you get here.

Jeni says:

August 14, 2020 at 7:41 am

Thank you for sharing this fascinating process! I had often wondered how to do things like this – opting for scanners and light boxes, but no knowledge of the post processing that really is the magnificent end result you get here.