I always loved sunflowers; all different sizes. The blooms, bright yellow, are so beautiful but the backside of the flower is exquisite. It is just as expressive and lovely as the front. I decided to concentrate on doing a close up. I had not used my macro lens lately, but I found the closer I zeroed into the lush, complex, green petals of the backside, the more excited I got. I always think an image, especially a sunflower, is so much more dramatic when moving as close as possible and photographing just a portion of the flower. I think this vivid picture was exactly what I had envisioned.
Hydrangea, Pears, and Plums
I have never used hydrangeas in a photo before and wanted to see how it would look. I came upon some in a store and thought I would somehow incorporate these delicate blue flowers into a still life. I had a pretty wicker basket at home already and decided that some brown Bosc pears and red plums would complement the gorgeous colors of the hydrangeas. I set this up and decided that a black backdrop would create a perfect contrast to the vivid flowers and fruit. I was pleased with the composition. I was about to give up for the day when suddenly I got a brain storm and this whole creation fell into place. Luckily I persisted.
White Daisies, Orange Lilies, and Ukulele
These lovely creations are my latest features in my Still Life repertoire. These are three very different Still Lifes using white daisies, orange lilies, limes, oranges and a ukulele. I found all of these vases in my favorite place, Goodwill. Each image uses a different vase. The orange lilies really spoke to me and I felt they would look beautiful against a black background with a green vase. The green ceramic vase spoke to me because it comes from Costa Rica and shows turtles as a design. White daisies added to the green vase really looked exquisite. For the last image I decided to add a ukulele to the picture with white flowers and green ceramic vase. Again, a black backdrop filled the bill. I love the varied colors and how I incorporated the contrasting colors to realize my vision.
Flowers in Studio 2020
I set out to photograph some lilies and other pink flowers with fruit. I decided to add this to its own post since I wanted to highlight the flowers. The pink flowers bloom on a bush in front of my house but I don’t know their name. They bloom every year. I added some different textures to show how the same photo can be changed with different backgrounds. I also set the lily up on the silver platter to show the reflections.
Pink Flowers and Reflections
I have an endless fascination with flowers, particularly pink ones. My friend Fran had these gorgeous pink flowers blooming right on a bush in her back yard back in late February. She gave me permission to cut a few off the bush. In the studio I placed the flower against a black reflective surface and used my strobes. The other shots were lilies in my studio in March 2019, again on a black reflective surface. The flowers in the saucer were on a white background so I added a texture to punch things up.