I have a Canon Eos Rebel T3i with a 55-250mm lens usually placed on portrait setting. That will often give me a crisp daylily with a blurred background....which I really like. What I don't like is how the bright sun will fade out many of the colors. I am the first to admit that I am quite the novice when it comes to my camera, so I am all ears to your suggestions. A daylily friend told me about her use of the telephoto lens on portrait setting...and I'm sure you all at ATP have great ideas too.
Thanks!
Cynthia

Wish I could help but I am also having trouble with the Canon Elf I was given as a gift. It takes good pictures but I am having trouble resizing them to small enough to use on the Lily Auction without cutting off half the picture. I had no trouble with my Nikon Coolpix, so I may go back to using that one for my daylily pictures.

I use a macro lens with the flash for my close up shots. I normally shoot in the manual mode at around f/9-f/13. When the sun is high which is the worst time of day for taking shooting I go up f/20 sometimes. I also use the telephoto lens for the blurred back grounds. I shoot with both Nikon and Canon. I have the Canon 60D and the older XTi. I pair the Canons with the 100mm macro and the 70-200f/4 lens. When I really want a nice shot with the background totally blurred, I will use the Canon 135mmf2.0, which is a professional portrait lens. With the Nikons I use a 60mm macro and the 70-300 telephoto lens.

I get the best shots early in the morning and late evening. I get up a bit earlier during the daylily bloom season to catch my early morning openers before the sun fade the colors...which usually happens by the time I get home from the office.

Nikon Coolpix. I do early in the morning and late evening, too, in shade without any bright sunlight patches evident. Sometimes I do night with a flash which can produce quite interesting looks. I use the macro settings mostly but sometimes I will use the zoom.

Canon PowerShot SX20. My number one tip is also to avoid the bright sun. I try to take photos early in the morning while still in the shade or in the evening. I used to do manual settings but now I pretty much do everything on auto. Normal setting. Very rarely use Macro setting.

Yes, bright sunlight is so hard to work with. I don't know how anyone can use a white umbrella and shoot too unless they are using a tripod.

I use a white umbrella if there is no clouds or shade, which is almost everyday. I have a Fuji Finepix which is small enough to carry in my shirt pocket and use while holding an umbrella. I use the marco setting, normal light. I have had this camera for 10-12 years, its not compatible with Windows 10 but the SD Card is. I have taken over a thousand photos with this little camera and have always been pleased, some have even been published.

I use a T6S, but, I prefer to use a stacking technique for all my flowers but there can't be any wind which has been impossible so far. I take pics after the sun has gone down otherwise, using a macro lens full manual mode.
I am no professional.

These are good tips. IF I get any blooms, I'll do some photography experimenting!

I use an old cannon. Like Fred, its been around awhile. I do know to look at a picture, I like to see the whole flower, and its fun to see the whole plant with the flower too. Some of you all get really nice angles, mine are all basic..point...shoot. I too use a white umbrella if I dont get out early, and sometimes you need it then too.

I have two cannons one is a powershot and my new one is a rebel which I have to learn to use. I also use a white umbrella mine is a large golf size which work well for me to handle and also take pictures.

I would also recommend checking the white balance on your camera. You can adjust it after the fact (much easier if you are capturing RAW images) but the closer it is to start with the better the result will be.

I guess the one thing I would suggest ( it will not make your pictures better) but it will make your using your camera much more enjoyable ,would be to cut down to the minimum megapixel setting necessary for the purpose at hand. Waiting for a camera to process huge megapixel photos and then waiting for the computer to download and then upload them is so aggravating and eats up so much space on the camera card and on the hard drive.
I know I am constantly seeing it advised to shoot in the highest settings in case you ever want to make a print. I haven't made a print in years. I haven't used photo programs to retouch photos in years, too much time and trouble for the type of photos I shoot. I am not a professional photographer, I just enjoy taking decent looking photos that portray the subject as close to real life as I can get it without spending half a day setting up the shot.
By all means learn your camera, get it set up with the best settings for the photos you actually shoot and things will work so much easier for you.