Inspiration

 If the rate of uploading photographs to the Shared Folder is anything to go by, we are all suffering from some form of photographic block.  We all need inspiration and that inspiration takes 2 forms:

1. Artistic inspiration having found time and determination to take photographs what shall we photograph?
2. How do we find time in our busy lives to take photographs.

Artistic Inspiration.

I think we are all largely reactive photographers; waiting for a photo opportunity to jump out at us when we have a camera in our hands.  We need to become more intentional: decide what you want to photograph, plan how you are going to photograph it and then do it!

But how do we get the original idea?  I think this is something we have to work at and that the place to start is by looking at photographs; not to copy them but to emulate them.

"Standing on the Shoulders of Giants"

I want to do more home studio photography and have been looking at photographers who have a body of work in flowers and fine art.

Margaret Rebecca Robinson (1821-1918)

Margaret Robinson, Cornflowers.

They may not be photographs but I am drawn to Victorian botanical artists.  They took a scientific approach to accurately record the plant world.  On closer look these paintings would be difficult to recreate photographically as they often portray multiple stages of the plants life from seed, to flower, seed head, and dead flower.

Karl Blossfeldt (1865 - 1932_

Early photographers, such as Karl Blossfeldt. carried on this scientific approach but were now experimenting to show textures and shadows in their work.  https://ipoxstudios.com/karl-blossfeldt-and-his-artistic-representation-of-nature/

Karl Blossfeldt, Passion Flower Bud

Edward Weston (1886 - 1958)

This famous early image of a cabbage leaf moves away from the botanical study approach and concentrates on those shadows and textures.

Ansel Adams (1902 - 1984) Rose and Driftwood, 1932

In this picture, Ansel Adams, has moved into a fine art approach.  Not known for his flower photographs, the story behind this famous image is that his wife brought this rose in from the garden and he spent days trying different backgrounds and light arrangements before settling on this. The shadows and textures are still important but it now looks more like a portrait with controlled lighting creating shadows that add depth to the image.

John Blakemore, (born 1936)

Moving onto contemporary photographers, John Blakemore is a film photographer who has transitioned into the digital age but still hangs onto the craft of printing black and white images.  He has a very large portfolio including several projects on trees.  My first thought was that I have many shots similar to this.  But this print sells for £400 because of the craft and skill involved in producing the print (lost in a low resolution screen grab).

As an aside take a look at his white bowl series (see here) done in lockdown for an example of using mundane items in your photography.

Andy Small

Andy Small is also well known for his flower photographs but I am drawn to one of his tree shots here.  Compare this with the John Blakemore image, the emphasis has shifted from skill in printing to skill in photoshop.

Benedict Brain

https://www.benedictbrain.com/

Benedict Brain studied under John Blakemore and I recently attended a seminar with him on storytelling in photographs.  He also uses a distinctive colour scheme and often breaks composition rules (often placing his horizon on the centre line).  He does a lot of work on cruise ships and often follows tourists as they jump on and off buses leading to several bodies of work collected over a long period of time and put together retrospectively.  Ben is the originator of my 5 minute challenge.

I like this shot because of the colour palate and because I wonder how did that big stone get there, or is a small pebble on a big stone?

Polina Platnikova (Dancing Flowers)

Returning to colour, flowers and fine art we are now well into digital manipulation.  I watched an online course by Polina Plotnikova a few months ago on the basic lighting setups for studio flower photography.  She has an additional set of videos on what she calls “dancing flowers”.  So we have now moved away from botanical accuracy to digitally enhanced photographs.

John Humphrey

Carrying on looking at photographers who teach with the RPS I finish off with John Humphrey.  His portfolio contains many shots of the style I want to take including this one which immediately made me go “Wow” and want to learn how to do this.

I am attending on an online course with him tomorrow!

I am drawn to emulate may photographs in his portfolio.

https://www.johnhumphrey.co.uk/ 

So where does this leave me!

1. I have started to develop my own manipulating style from my Tolkien projects but"one size does not fit all"
2. I have taken some technically correct indoor studio flower images but they lack excitement.