From Lime Green Walls to the iPhone 16: My 17-Year Journey in Florist Photography

The Photo That Changed How I Thought About All of This

I remember standing in our little shop on Marine Parade in Kingscliff, it was probably 2007, holding a bunch of pink roses that our contract florist had dropped off that morning, trying to take a photo for what was then our very basic website. The camera was one of those silver digital point and shoots, a Canon I think, the ones that took those tiny memory cards that you were always losing. The lighting in the shop was, well, it was fluorescent tubes from probably 1987 and the walls were still that gross lime green the previous owner had painted them. I took about 40 photos. Every single one looked like something you'd find in a dentist's waiting room circa 1994.

* This is our actual shop from back in the day, you can just make out the lime coloured walls :). I can hear you gush with the irony of having the sign out the front with the Kodak digital prints sign.

That bunch of roses was genuinely beautiful. The photo made them look like they were dying in a hospital.

I share this because if you're a florist reading this, trying to figure out how to make your flowers look as good on Instagram as they do sitting on your workbench, I want you to know that I have been exactly where you are. Probably worse actually. And now, 17 years later, having worked with over 800 partner florists across Australia, I've seen what works, what doesn't, and I've made pretty much every mistake you can make along the way. Some of them twice.

Why Is This Important

Here's the thing, and I'll be upfront about it, we sell flowers. That's what we do. That's what you do too if you're reading this. And the reality of 2025 is that people scroll Instagram while they're on the train, or waiting for their coffee, or pretending to listen in a meeting, and something catches their eye and they think "oh, Mum's birthday is next week" and then they either tap through to your website or they keep scrolling to the next account. That's the brutal truth of it.

The photo is the hook. Everything else, your years of training, your eye for colour, the way you source your natives from that grower in the hills who's been doing it for 30 years, none of that matters if the scroll keeps scrolling.

I've watched this play out hundreds of times with our partner florists. Some have Instagram accounts that genuinely drive business to them. Others have beautiful shops, incredible arrangements, and an Instagram feed that looks like it was photographed during a power outage. The flowers are the same quality. The photos are not.

What We Learned (Mostly by Getting It Wrong)

The Light Thing

Everyone says natural light. You've heard it a million times. But here's what nobody told me, and what took me embarrassingly long to figure out, it's not just "natural light" as in "light that comes from outside", it's about where you are in relation to that light and what time of day it is.

Our flower shop in Kingscliff faced east. Morning light was genuinely gorgeous, soft and warm, made everything look like it belonged in a magazine. By about 2pm, with the sun having moved around, the light coming in was harsh and created these shadows that made even the most stunning arrangement look somehow cheap. I didn't understand why my morning photos looked so much better than my afternoon ones for months. Months! I just thought I was having good days and bad days with the camera.

So the actual practical advice is this: figure out when your workspace gets that soft, diffused light and take your photos then. If that's 7am before you open, then that's when you take your photos. Batch them. Take 20 photos of different arrangements in that golden window and you've got content for the week.

The Background Problem

For the longest time I would just photograph flowers wherever they happened to be sitting. On the counter with the eftpos machine in the background. On the workbench with buckets and cellophane visible. Once, memorably, with Andrew's half eaten sandwich on a plate just in the corner of frame. We didn't notice until it was already posted. Someone commented asking if we did lunch delivery too.

You don't need a professional studio setup. We certainly never had one. What you need is one spot, maybe two, where the background is either plain, or intentionally interesting. A painted wall. A timber bench that's been cleared off. Outside against some greenery if you've got it. That's it. The same spot, used consistently, actually becomes part of your visual identity over time. People start to recognise your photos before they even see your name.

Angles That Don't Make Flowers Look Weird

This one took trial and error. A lot of it. Photographing flowers from directly above can work beautifully for round arrangements where you want to show the full spread. But for flower bouquets, for anything with height and movement to it, shooting from slightly above and at an angle, roughly where your eyes would naturally see them if you were standing at a table, that's usually the winner.

The mistake I see constantly, and made constantly myself, is photographing at weird angles trying to be "creative" or "different". The flowers end up looking distorted. Stems look stubby. The whole thing feels off and you can't quite put your finger on why.

Simple works. There's a reason magazine photographers keep coming back to the same handful of angles.

The Phone Question

Someone asked me recently what camera we use for our photos now. I almost laughed because the answer is an iPhone 16 Pro. That's it. No fancy DSLR, no lighting rigs, no external lenses clipped on. Just the phone that's already in my pocket.

The cameras in phones now are remarkable, they really are. I know that sounds like something your teenager would say but it's true. The phone I used to take that horrible fluorescent lit rose photo in 2007 probably cost more than my current iPhone and produced images about one tenth as good.

The one setting I'd say actually matters is portrait mode for close up shots, the kids told me to use that I have to admit, I feel so old - haha. It blurs the background slightly and makes the flowers pop. That's probably the single biggest improvement you can make with zero effort or skill.

One thing I would say though, wipe the lens or lenses. I cannot tell you how many slightly foggy photos I've taken because there was sunscreen or moisturiser or just general life grime on the lens. It takes two seconds and makes an actual difference. Wipe it with whatever you have, but nothing wet as it will take a few minutes to dry, I tend to lean towards anything cotton.

Making It Look Real Without Looking Messy

There's this tendency I've noticed, especially when florists first start taking Instagram seriously, to over style everything. The perfectly placed scissors. The artfully scattered petals. The ribbon that's been positioned just so. It ends up looking like a stock photo. Which, in a weird way, makes it feel less trustworthy. Like it's trying too hard.

Our philosophy with Lily's Florist, and this applies to content as much as anything else, is that roughness can actually be authenticity. A photo of an arrangement on your actual workbench, with some leaf trimmings visible at the edge of frame, tells a story. It says someone real made this, with their hands, in a real place. That's more compelling than a sterile perfectly styled shot that could have come from anywhere.

I'm not saying post blurry photos with your lunch in frame. But don't strip out all the humanity either. 

Authenticity sells!

Content Ideas When You're Stuck

Okay so you've got your good light window figured out, you've found your spot with the decent background, you've wiped your lens. Now what do you actually post?

The obvious one: the finished arrangement. This is your bread and butter. Take multiple angles, pick the best one, done.

The making of: people are genuinely fascinated by process. A photo or short video of hands working on an arrangement, the halfway point where it's starting to come together but isn't finished yet. This performs consistently well and costs you nothing extra because you're making the arrangement anyway. This is something, at least, now that the shop is long gone, we could never replicate, but it's your superpower!

The delivery moment: if you can capture the flowers at the doorstep, or being handed over, or even just loaded into the delivery vehicle, that tells a story. It's not just "we make flowers", it's "these flowers are going somewhere, to someone, for a reason". This is gold!

The before and after: this is especially good for event work. The empty venue, then the venue with your flowers in it. The transformation is inherently interesting.

Behind the scenes of your actual business: your workspace, your team, you especially, the delivery van, the early morning flower market run if you do one. People want to connect with the humans behind the business. This is something I avoided for years because I thought nobody would care. I was wrong.

Seasonal content: sounds obvious but actually planning ahead for Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, Christmas, and having content specifically shot for those occasions makes a huge difference. Don't wait until the week before and try to scramble.

A Quick Word on Posting Itself

I'm not going to pretend to be an Instagram algorithm expert. I'm not and then some. But I can tell you what I've observed works.

Consistency matters more than frequency. If you can only manage 3 posts a week, do 3 posts every week rather than 10 one week and then nothing for a fortnight.

Hashtags still work but don't go crazy. 5 to 10 relevant ones at the most - we tend to do 3-6 just FYI. Local ones work well (#SydneyFlorist #MelbourneFlowers or whatever your area is). The ultra generic ones with millions of posts, your photo gets buried instantly, probably not worth it.

Write captions like you talk. Tell the tiny story. "This one went to a teacher in Randwick who's retiring after 35 years" is more interesting than "Beautiful native arrangement, DM for pricing". Give people something to actually read.

And respond to comments. Sounds basic but it matters. Instagram rewards engagement and beyond that, it's just good business. Someone took time to write something, acknowledge them. It's also really good for SEO.

What I Know Now That I Wish I'd Known Then

Standing in that lime green shop in 2007, wrestling with that little silver camera, I thought good flower photography required equipment I couldn't afford, skills I didn't have, and probably a degree in something I'd never studied.

It doesn't.

It requires decent light (which is free), a clean background (which just requires tidying one corner of your space), a phone you already own, and the willingness to take a bunch of photos and pick the best one.

The flowers you make are already beautiful. I know they are because you're a florist who cares enough to read a 2000 word blog post about taking better photos. You just need to capture them in a way that lets other people see what you see.

Start simple. Be consistent. Embrace the imperfect. The perfectly polished feed that looks like it was shot by a professional team, that's not what builds trust anyway. Real does. Human does. Your hands covered in flower water, standing in your actual shop, building something beautiful for someone's mum or partner or friend, that's the content.

Anna, who still works with us after 15 years (originally as a florist, now our bookkeeper), said something to me once that stuck. She said the best photos aren't the ones where everything is perfect, they're the ones where you can tell someone cared. I think she's right.

Now go wipe your phone lens and find your light.

About Lily's Florist

We're Siobhan and Andrew, and we've been running Lily's Florist since 2009 from a little florist shop in Kingscliff NSW that started it all. We're still Australian owned and operated, still making decisions at the dinner table, and still working with over 800 partner florists across the country. 

* This is us in Hobart in August 2024. Andrew, Ivy, me, and Asha (yeah the big baby!)

If you want to know the much longer version of how a Yellow Pages ad, a broken gift in a Murwillumbah flower shop, and a BPA free baby bottle craze led to all of this, you can read our full story on our About Us page.

Florist Photography FAQ

Do I really need a professional camera for my shop?

Honestly, no. I spent years wrestling with a silver Canon point-and-shoot back in 2007, only to realise that the iPhone 16 Pro in my pocket today is ten times better. The best camera is the one you already have; just focus on finding your light and keeping the lens clean.

What is the "Golden Window" for flower photos?

It depends entirely on your shop's orientation. Our Kingscliff shop faced East, so 7 AM to 10 AM was our "magazine quality" light window. By 2 PM, the sun had moved, creating harsh shadows that made even the most stunning arrangement look a bit cheap. Find your soft light window and batch your photos then.

Should I "style" my workbench for Instagram?

Don't overthink it or make it look like a sterile stock photo. People trust authenticity a few leaf trimmings in the frame actually tell a story that "a real person made this." Just make sure to move the half-eaten sandwiches out of the shot before you hit post!

How do I get that "blurry background" look?

The kids finally showed me: use Portrait Mode. It is the single biggest technical jump you can make with zero photography skill. It makes the flowers pop and naturally hides a messy background, which is a lifesaver when the shop is busy.

How often should I be posting?

Consistency matters more than frequency. It is better to do three high-quality posts every week than to post ten times in one week and then go silent for a fortnight. Use a simple schedule: Monday showcases, Wednesday behind-the-scenes, and Friday trends to stay in front of your customers.