Big Flowers
In general, I find that big photographs of flowers look kind of cheesy. I’m sure this is all about the nuance of the picture where things like camera settings and lighting and processing matter. I tend to prefer a minimalist approach to photo styling and editing, so this is simply a matter of taste. Subjectively objective.
I do love the artful pictures of Australian photographer Kara Rosenlund. She has a series, Best in Show, that features colorful dahlias. She gives the backstory on how her collection came to be and how she made these gorgeous photographs in her post. They have names like Daphne, Gladys, and Mavis—all names with meaning for Kara.
After studying Kara’s work, I decided I’d give something similar a try. We visited the lovely Flower Field in Toano near Williamsburg, Virginia this passed week. The owner, Susan, was so kind to open the field early for us to pick flowers and shared her passion for flowers, too. Luckily for me, there were some dahlias and lots of zinnias, too.
I brought a few prized dahlias home and got to work. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to make pictures like Kara’s, ones that filled the frame with the flower blossom. I decided to try different prime lenses (35mm, 50mm, and 85mm), stick with natural light in the early morning (in my garage this gives a softer light without shadows), use my tripod, and keep the styling very simple. Kara used a makeshift studio on her kitchen table which seemed pretty similar to my setup. I figured I’d have to crop the photos to get that full frame look, and this turned out to be true. But the file sizes were large and even with cropping, the pictures are still of excellent quality.
I am happy with the results. I’m not sure which of this group will make it into my florilegium project, but I am certain at least one will be included. I followed Kara’s lead and named my flower portraits after people I love.
