MY FLOWER PHOTOGRAPHY AND WHAT IT MEANS TO ME

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1. MYSTERY OF THE RED ROSE.

2. MUGUET.

3. SENSUAL

4. VALSE TRISTE

5. TEMPORAL BEAUTY

6. THE BIG BLOOM

7. THE BIG RED AND WHITE BLOOM.

8. CORNUS ALBA

9. CURVACEOUS CURVES

10. THE 3 CALLAS


11. BLOW YOUR TRUMPETS

Photography is an Art, a way of life, of thinking creatively and seeing life, it is my passion, mental and emotional nourishment. All I can say is experiment, experiment, experiment... the exposure is irrelevant because each flower, the light source is different, just like for people and everything else!

I love flowers, they are neither shy nor temperamental, just extremely ephemeral, and that is one of the things I like to capture and eternalise, their beauty.

All flowers are beautiful, some through their shape some through their colour, some through both, just like with people, however, I noticed over the years, that some flowers are more photogenic than others... just like with people…

Fresh flowers, a fresh idea, a fresh image.
For professional work, the flowers have to be PERFECT, luckily, for my free work, I love a bit of 'imperfection', adds interest and is less boring!

I love gardening, seeing plants grow, unfurl, bloom, and rain-damage doesn't make a flower less appealing to me because it's not 'perfect'!

I like the natural light too, but that is another blog for later!

I've been working on this project, 'Flowers in the studio' for years, an ongoing process. and an absolute joy to do. Hours well spent, I hope you enjoy them. I love trying out all kinds of lighting using flags and cutters, so indeed as little DIGITAL HELP as possible, except for ‘cleaning up’ dust speckles or minor cosmetic

Make it your own! Continuously experimenting and playing with light, I love the textures and tones, taken in the studio, playing with light, flags and cutters to get the desired effect of chiaroscuro... also with emotion and a sensuality of 'you're making my toes curl'?

I often have several arrangements for the different takes, yet often I have previsualised it so well, that it takes ONE shot!

I wanted dramatic lighting for this series.

Paul and I love working together whenever we can, the lights set up, hand measuring the light, then a quick try (before it used to be with Polaroids) with the digi (Nikon D70/200, nikkor Macro 60mm).

It is always the same, once you have an idea for the studio, you get in there, see something else, and something else again, wonderful how inspirational it can be.

The feeling I get when I see the results… they sing to me, rich and sensual both in tones and forms.

Photographed the way I like it, minimal dof, fading away in the dark, black bg, it gives it a lovely sense of mystery...

I wanted to capture the mystery the red rose seemed to hold. I gave it a dramatic sidelight, some just stroking the rims of the petals and going off into the deepest darker corners.

I know, not everybody's cup of tea, but I think there is a 'need' for creative photography, if not for you... for me... LOL.

Flowers.

The Roman goddess of flowers, gardens, and the season of spring is Flora.
The Greek goddess of spring, flowers and nature is Chloris.

Flowers have been cultivated and bred for their beauty and their perfume from earliest times and have accumulated a vast and intricate treasury of symbolic associations derived from legend and folklore. Individual flowers have been celebrated in heraldry (rose), in religion (lotus), and in politics (violet) and have become emblems for many countries, including Switzerland (edelweiss), France (fleur-de-lis), Scotland (thistle), and the United States (the state flowers).
In modern times, we cultivate, buy and love to have flowers and blooming plants around us for the colour, it has become a part of our ‘interior design’.

Flower lovers will know that there is a flower language.
Every sentiment is expressed in one form or another by delicate blooms. Of course, even the experts disagree on the "true meaning" of many flowers and most have different meanings to different people. So, while all flowers convey thoughtfulness and love, a gift of flowers for a special someone will always create its own personal meaning, too.

Paul knows how much I love flowers and as there's not much going on in the garden, he often buys me flowers.
I think he chooses them in the secret hope that I'm going to photograph them, hihi. And he's right, I DO!

I WISH YOU A BLOOMING GOOD DAY, M, (*_*)

1. Unfurling the divine mystery of perfection which resides curled, often unseen, within the heart of every human being. Its center well protected by many layers, the rose died like so many, without ever opening, without releasing its secret.
I wanted to capture the mystery the red rose seemed to hold. I gave it a dramatic sidelight, some just stroking the rims of the petals and going off into the deepest darker corners.

2. French: muguet, lis des vallées
Dutch: Lelietjes van Dalen
Flemish: meiklokjes
... an erect low-growing plant of the genus Convallaria (C. majalis).

3. A detail/macro of the red tulip.
There are no secrets... it only took me years of experimenting in the studio.

4. I opened the packet and saw this one tulip with a petal torn, it looked so sad... Valse Triste (by Sibelius)...

5. The heart was already dead... a gorgeous, large, duotoned bloom of Chrysanthemum.

Tempus fugit is a Latin expression meaning "time flies".
Frequently used as an inscription on clocks to remind us that life passes FAST, tic...toc....

All is fleeting and so ephemeral...
The expression was first used in the verse Georgica written by Roman poet Virgil: Sed fugit interea fugit irreparabile tempus, which means,
"But it flees in the meantime: irretrievable time flees".

The flower still full of beauty to me...

6. A client bought and renovated a beautiful Victorian house, they wanted photos for the rooms of Victorian (style) flowers, portrait format, but of course I tried all kinds after I'd finished the commission.
Chrysanthemum: the big blooms often duo toned, collectively known as kotengiku or antique chrysanthemums.

7. Same as nr.6 in colour, what do you prefer?

8. THIS IS A PERSONAL FAVOURITE. I was after that feeling of 'old print' It is a specific light, sometimes people think it is underexposed, but no, this is what I wanted!

9. Zantedeschia, commonly known as Calla.
This one seemed to curl with pleasure and love the light which brought out all the different lines of colour.

10. Zantedeschia, usually called calla or arum lilies( when white), they are not a true lily.
It is named after Italian botanist Francesco Zantedeschia.

It looks like
a. a family, with the little one pushing; mama, are we going yet?

b. I was interested by the lovely curves, the light on them, concentrated, but saw that, like people, they feel 'strong' as a group?

c. The 3 tenors was the 'humorous' aspect... La Calla one of the greatest sopranos?

11. Daffodils.