Yesterday I worked on
Photographing Frozen Flowers
I picked a cluster of begonia flowers, immersed them in a container of water and put the container in the freezer. Later, when the water was completely frozen, I removed the block of ice from the container, placed it on a glass plate and began making photographs.
This is what my dining room studio looked like as I photographed the frozen flowers
Though I have seen other flower photographers’ images of frozen flowers, this is the first time I’ve tried it. I always have a hard time taking something so beautiful and alive and hastening its demise. It was only because I picked only a small sprig of begonia flowers for my experiment and left the rest happily on the plant that I could bear to try this.
My soul, when I tend to it, is a far more expansive and fascinating source of guidance than my ego will ever be, because my soul desires only one thing: wonder. And since creativity is my most efficient pathway to wonder, I take refuge there, and it feeds my soul, and it quiets the hungry ghost—thereby saving me from the most dangerous aspect of myself.
― Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
Similarly, I love flat still life images that some photographers make by placing flowers, leaves, and buds carefully in a design on a white or dark background. But I have rarely tried doing it myself, again because I cannot bear to shorten the flowers’ beauty by pulling them off of their stems. I prefer to soak in the flower’s grace and beauty through all of its life stages in its own time. The more I get to know and love the flower the more true I believe my images become.
I did find beauty and joy in photographing my begonia flowers in ice despite the fact that as soon as the ice melted the flowers faded quickly.
I don’t want to be afraid of bright colors, or new sounds, or big love, or risky decisions, or strange experiences, or weird endeavors, or sudden changes, or even failure.
― Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
In one’s creative life, it’s important to experiment and try new things, even if it is only to discover what you love to create and what you don’t love. I find that experiments often teach me as much about myself as about art and creating. Also I find the joy is in the process — going out with my camera and seeing the world differently than I did before, trying a new technique, editing photos and discovering hidden beauty — if I don’t start I don’t get the joy of learning, discovery, and self-expression.
What would you like to create or learn about today?
May you walk in beauty.
0 Comments