I was enjoying a lazy Sunday and in spite of the light falling snow I noticed a nice glow drifting through my bathroom window that reminded me of an article about making a photo still life that I wrote about back in March of 2013.
My wife had placed a potted orchid in the bathtub. I walked by that evening thinking that was a good place to water her latest plant and never gave it another thought that night. However, in the morning light I realized that lone orchid sitting on an upside down plastic pail in our bathroom tub was a photo opportunity in the making.
There was a soft light coming through the frosted window and the slight beginnings of a glow on the flower. I knew within an hour or so the sun would move to that side of the house and continue in that southern path for the rest of the day.
I looked at the soft diffused light coming through that frosted window and knew the continually changing quality of the natural light would offer me a fun and leisurely project that could last all day.
All I needed to do was set up a natural light studio in the bathroom.
I began by placing a black velvet backdrop behind the flower just below the window.
The light came through a window above and behind the orchid. The bathroom was bright, but not enough for a balanced image, so I positioned a white reflector between my tripod-mounted camera and the tub. (I tried white, gold and silver reflector coverings and decided on white.)
My camera's ISO was set at 100 and the aperture at f/8 in the morning, then f/16 in the afternoon. That left exposure control with the shutter and after my initial meter readings all I had to do was keep testing by releasing the shutter and checking my LCD as the light factors changed throughout the day. The goal was really about capturing the quality of light as much as it was about making a good portrait of my wife's orchid. All I had to do was make regular trips to the bathroom, sit on the floor beside of the toilet, and take pictures as the light changed.
There was a photographer named Robert Mapplethorpe that excelled at this style of plant photography and he was my inspiration for this. Many of his artistic and sensuous flower photographs were carefully positioned next to a window so he could create wonderful black and white flower photographs using both natural light and studio lighting.
By the end of the day I had over 80 images to choose from. I selected out and selected out again until I had one that worked best for me.
I wanted the image to be more about a creative form than about the orchid and cropped severely to force that view. All and all, it was a successful day and a great photograph for my monthly calendar.
Stay safe and be creative. These are my thoughts for this week. Contact me at www.enmanscamera.com or emcam@telus.net.