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It’s been a long — very long — winter, and I’m eager for warmer weather. On the other hand, the recent snows have turned my attention to the indoor flowers I enjoy. This paperwhite lilly was given to me as bulbs when I did holiday portraits shots at Designs by Lee in Stamford, CT. They have the most amazing fragrance! I don’t know much about flowers, but I call these the “smelly lillies.” Each time I walk by, the scent gives me a promise of spring.
Often, when I create a photograph, I try out different approaches or styles. Usually I have one look in mind, or find that I recognize immediately the style that I like best for that image. But sometimes I find that I like several different approaches and can’t decide which is the definitive look for that image. This is one case where I like various versions of the image.
Here’s one variation, done in spepia:
Here it is in black and white:
And here’s one last approach, a softer version:
For all the fun I had playing with this image, it almost didn’t get created. I had been planning to work with this flower in my studio set-up, with controlled lighting and a black background. (See next post for the result of that.) I was reaching for the lilly, where it sat on my kitchen counter in front of the window. I paused, and noticed how I loved the juxtiposition of the flower against the snowy background. I considered taking a photo, but I thought the lack of contrast –white flower against an almost-all white background — would make for a poor image.
Just for kicks, I took a quick photo, not really setting it up much. Well… I did use a tripod, and play with different angles… alright, I worked on it some, but not excessively. And, you know what? In some ways, I like this image better than the studio shot that follows. It has context; it has a story to tell. The snowy background adds something to the image, and makes it more than just a photo of a flower. To me, this image epitomizes the feeling of late-winter. It really named itself: Waiting for Spring.
