Tom and I celebrate the great images being created by our community of photographers each month by selecting a Photo of the Month. For January we selected Jen Turk’s image of a frozen flower from our Macro for Cabin Fever Class. We hope you enjoy Jen’s images as much as we do
Congratulations to January 2021 ‘s featured photographer – Jen Turk
The Story …
One of the class assignments was to photograph with a different kind of light. I wanted to work with ambient light for the assignment. I usually work with a Studio in a Box. For this image I didn’t want to get the Studio in a Box wet, so I moved to a different location.
To create the block of ice I used several fresh flowers from a bouquet. I put them in a Tupperware container that I use for my son’s lunches. I put the flowers in upside down and covered them with a half inch of water. After letting that first layer set in the freezer, I added another half inch of water every hour until I got the thickness I wanted.
To set up the shoot, I took the block of ice out of the freezer and suspended it between two stacks of textbooks. This allowed light to come in underneath the ice. I also put down a white kitchen towel as a lighter colored background.
The flower that caught my eye was showing through the side of the ice block. I shot it from the side by getting eye level to the flower. One of the cool things about this technique is that the image changes as the ice melts. To make the ice melt faster, I rubbed the edge of the ice with my thumb to let the details of the flower come through.
I did very little to this image by way of editing. With this technique, what you see is what you get. It was just what I wanted right out of camera. I love that. I love the painterly effect you get even with out a specialty lens like a Lens Baby.
Why Macro Photography:
If you really look at a macro subject, you can see so much. I think of each macro subject as it’s own entity. If I am walking around on a photography trip and something catches my eye, I move in closer. The crack in the wood, the color in a flower, the broken down cars in Jerome, Arizona. I wonder about the life of each of these things.
The flower that I photographed above was once a seed. I try to be mindful about my macro subjects. I ask, what are the different textures of what I’m looking at. What are the colors?
For me, macro photography is showing curiosity about the smaller things.
A Tip for Macro Photography:
When you find something that catches your attention, move around the object to get different perspectives. Change your camera angle. Try moving the object around. Keep doing this until you get an image that speaks to you.
Step away. Come back. Shoot it again and you may get something completely different.
On Jen’s Horizon
Hawaii – to photograph textures and native plants
Ouray – to photograph fall leaves on the ground
Our next online Macro for Cabin Fever class starts on February 8. To learn more about our other upcoming classes, including Bird Photography, Speedlights and PhotoShop 2 Click Here
Check out our new class for March: Travel Photography Click Here