Irises in Abstract

Mother Nature is the ultimate painter/sculptor/performer, and after a cool spring, the irises are finally in bloom. Last year I tried to get standard shots, but the bedding was substandard, and I had forgotten that irises sort of bloom from the top down. The tops do not always stay photogenic enough for the lower ones to join them. However, perhaps the biggest reason for not doing close-ups before is I didn’t think of it until now.

It’s a little difficult to play with the angles when you’re trying to crop out everything that’s not flower. I took some after a rain for added texture, but do they really need it? And I’m on the fence in regards to the ones taken under sunny conditions. Sometimes extreme shadows do little to help. But since this is an experiment, they’re included. I think my favorites are the extreme closeups of the folded petals.



They are not National Geographic, nor are they Mapplethorpe or O’Keefe. If I’ve accomplished anything, it’s that time was taken to stop and appreciate the things around us. Not a bad thing to do and it’s not done nearly enough. Try it sometime, you’ll like it.

Without consciously setting out to do so, I did some along the same lines with peonies last year, but I’ll give them more focus this time. They’re just now starting to come out.